


Crash Course: Time Lord 101

by elensari



Series: Song of the Spheres [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-18
Updated: 2014-04-12
Packaged: 2018-01-16 04:57:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 112,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1332805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elensari/pseuds/elensari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>2nd in my Songs of the Sphere's 'Verse. There is so much to learn, and though forever is a long time, will there ever be enough time to know herself or her Doctor? After the events in WDMC Rose and Ten must learn more than just how to love each other. Many familiar faces come along to join in the fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Of Brides and Christmas Dinners

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of borrowed dialog from the Runaway Bride.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Busy first day back for Rose, now let's meet Donna's family.

Of Brides and Christmas Dinners

* * *

 

As he stepped out of the TARDIS with an unusually quiet Donna and Rose, the Doctor takes a second to flick his sonic at Donna scanning her.

"Well, all the Huon particles have gone. No damage. You're fine," he says.

"Yeah, but apart from that… I missed my wedding, lost my job and became a widow on the same day… Sort of."

"There was no way to save him," Rose tells her sympathetically, giving Donna a quick hug.

"He deserved it," she says harshly. After a moment her face falls. "No he didn't," she says sadly. She turns and looks at her house. "I'd better get inside. They'll be worried."

"Best Christmas present they could have," he smiles at her. They all looked at the house and saw Donna's mum and granddad hugging. "Oh, no, I forgot," he says suddenly. "You hate Christmas."

"Yes, I do."

"Even if it snows?" he says sneakily.

Reaching into the TARDIS and pressing a switch he's been dying to use for decades, the light atop the TARDIS glows and shoots a ball of light into the atmosphere, looking all the world like a white firework. After just a few moments it begins to gently snow. Rose and Donna both turn to gape at him.

"Oi! Space man! How'd you do that?" Donna splutters.

"Oh, basic atmospheric excitation," he grins smugly, rocking back on the heels of his trainers. Rose smacks him on the shoulder with a grin of her own.

"Merry Christmas," Donna smiles.

"Merry Christmas."

"And you. So," he says. "What will you do with yourself now?"

"Not getting married for starters," she jokes. "And I'm not gonna temp anymore. I dunno... travel... see a bit more of planet Earth... walk in the dust. Just... go out there and do something."

Rose and the Doctor look at each other sharing the same thought.

"You could come with us. It isn't like that every day." Rose grins hopefully at Donna with her tongue in her teeth. "Some days we just swim in the Library, or go laze around on purple beaches having banana drinks."

"Definitely most days though, oof!...I mean of course we do plenty of safe, right safe, very safe things...all the time. Right, Rose?" The Doctor hopes that's the right answer. He doesn't want to earn another elbow in the ribs.

Laughing, Donna says, "You two, are too much. You only just found each other, and then you had to go about saving me! No, I'd feel like a third wheel, get in the way. You don't need me around slowing you all down. Not sure how I feel about all that running anyway."

Rose steps forward taking Donna's hand, "Donna Noble you are wonderful, and I would really love it if you would come with us. I need another girl around. Please reconsider."

"Well, you do have your hands full with that crazy lump!" Donna says with a mock scowl.

"Oi! Still standing here!" says the Doctor trying his best to look indignant. He has really enjoyed meeting Donna. He thought Rose could give him a run for his money, but Donna was right there with him not giving an inch. As irritating as it was at times, he had thoroughly enjoyed it. Plus, it would do Rose good to have someone other than just the TARDIS and him to talk to. Learning to be a Time Lord wasn't all that much fun when he did it.

There was so much that Rose needed to know, just to be healthy, let alone safe, and safe around others. There had been no time to even talk about what had happened with Donna exploding onto the scene mere hours after he'd gotten Rose back. Then everything with the Racnoss, the Thames nearly drowning all three of them, not to mention more insane Santa robots-yup, crazy.

He wouldn't actually mind a little time with just the two of them, but he could hardly tell Rose no, and he wanted Donna along, too. So, he would just make it work. He can't imagine life with Donna being any weirder than the last couple of days have been, so why not! Allon-sy and all that!

Rolling her eyes Donna suggests, "Tell you what I will do right now though...Christmas dinner. Mum's a good cook, but she always cooks enough for twenty. When we're done, I'll give ya an answer. How 'bout that?"

Thinking of the previous Christmas with its terror, doubt, more terror, relief, and then joy, Rose turns and looks at the Doctor with a secret little smile, and a twinkle in her eye.

 _-So how about it, Doctor? Up for a little Christmas dinner and some tryptophan induced napping later_?-

The Doctor's eyes get wide. It's the first time that Rose has actually tried speaking to him telepathically. He has had part of his mind shielding her thoughts from the outside, (with her broadcasting like a news station) but he'd been doing a good job of ignoring it, knowing they'd work on her shielding very soon. But this?! This was consciously speaking and flirting, (Omega!) reminding him once again that that tingle back there, is Rose-his Gallifreyan, Time Lady Rose.

_-Rose. You are brilliant!-_

_-I take it, that's a yes?-_  Rose is really quite pleased with herself, first try even. She knew it should work, but she hadn't tried it yet.

- _Yup_!-

- _He even pops his 'p' in his head_!- she thinks, rolling her eyes at him this time, she takes his hand in hers.

 _-Why yes I do, Rose Tyler!-_  he quips back. She can even feel his smirk in her mind.

_-Sorry, thought I was keeping that one to myself. Ooops.-_

Bumping his shoulder with hers, Rose looks back at Donna. "Donna, we'd love to. How about we go get changed right quick, and we'll meet you at the door in...20 minutes?"

 _-I will have you know Rose Tyler, that my current attire is perfectly acceptable for Christmas dinners in several Galaxies.-_ He shoots at Rose petulantly.

- _Seriously? We have nearly drowned in the Thames...ew!...Been shot at, thrown around the TARDIS,and you weren't the one all wadded up in web goo. I am showering, and putting on clean clothes. Clean, Doctor, clean!-_

- _Cheeky! Fine. A shower might be nice. I think this pair of trainers is completely ruined now that I look at them...I think they were white once, and maybe a clean shirt would be nice...Ooo, I can pick a new tie!...and maybe I could...-_

_-See. I knew you wouldn't pout for long.-_

_-Time Lords do NOT pout, Rose Tyler!-_

-Of course not,- Rose returns sarcastically. She has to work to not roll her eyes again, so Donna doesn't feel left out of the entire conversation happening as she and the Doctor make their way back towards the TARDIS.

"Make it 45 minutes and don't be daft! No knocking or ringing the bell—just come right in," Donna calls back with a brilliant smile, obviously delighted that they'll stay, and heads towards her door.

Turning back Rose calls to her, "See ya in 45 then, Donna." With a little wave, Rose and the Doctor slip into the TARDIS.

Pausing at her door, Donna realises that she might not want to turn right around and leave again. Her grandfather would understand, but her mum would not be happy. Thinking of her mum, Donna is sorely tempted though. / _Lots to think about,_ / she tells herself. Forty-five minutes will give her just enough time to take get her mom settled, (Oi!) and get her own clothes changed. She was really, really over this dress. / _Next time I get up in one of these, it will have pockets!/_  she thinks disdainfully.

* * *

Some four hours or so later, everyone is stuffed to bursting with more than just food. Rose isn't sure she had ever seen anyone tuck in as much as the Doctor. Seeing him with his blue paper crown askew on his head laughing with Donna, and Wilf in his pink one teasing his daughter; is bittersweet for Rose. Thinking of the previous Christmas and the one that her family are currently having saddens her even though she genuinely is having a great time. Raising a glass with the rest in a toast for a fantastic year, Rose resolves for it to be true. Catching the Doctor's eye they acknowledge each other with an extra little smile. / _This **will**  be the best year yet_,/Rose thinks to herself; truly happy for the first time in years.

Currently, Rose is watching Donna and her mum talk about the day. Donna is not sharing too much about what had actually happened, and Rose is impressed at how well she's handling it.  _/God knows my first experience was exciting, but Donna's takes the cake!_ / She thinks, smiling to herself. Earlier, Sylvia had been completely ruthless in her passive aggressive treatment of Donna. Rose knew it wasn't her place, but she'd really wanted to give her a good slap for making her new friend cry—and before Christmas dinner, the nerve.

Before Rose could say anything feisty though, Wilf had taken his daughter's hand and kindly told her, "Shut it, Sylvia. It's been a hard day for everyone, and it's Christmas—let's have a nice dinner and be grateful the Doctor and Rose took care of our Donna." Donna looked at Wilf with such love and gratitude that it had made Rose's eyes shine. From that point on, the dinner was much more relaxed.

Wilf and the Doctor had hit it off immediately, and are happily talking about Wilf's telescopes and interesting space phenomena. Of course, the Doctor has all sorts of ideas on how to 'improve' the telescopes. Looking over at the Doctor and Wilf, Rose sees that they are surreptitiously making their way towards the back door. It is adorable seeing these two grown men trying to sneak out of the house like naughty school children. Rose catches Donna's eye and nods her head in their direction. Donna glances over and back to Rose with a knowing smirk on her face. Rose decides to let them have their fun. Hopefully the Doctor - _Won't blow up Wilf's telescopes!_ \- She pushes at him. She receives a miffed - _Oi_!- in return. Laughing, Rose joines the Nobles in telling anecdotes of the day and helping to clean up. Soon they will be off, and hopefully with Donna Noble in tow. Soon, she tells herself, and laughs at Donna's last joke about the look on Cousin Harold's face when the Christmas ornaments started flying.

Walking up the hill with Wilf, the Doctor sees a telescope already set-up.

"Oh look at that! What's it tuned to at the moment?" he asks Wilf.

"Oh? Venus, with an apparent magnitude of -3.5º is what it says in my little book. Here have a look," he says turning the telescope toward the Doctor.

Leaning over, the Doctor adjusts the eyepiece a bit and Venus pops up, gibbous and a gorgeous cloudy blue.

As the Doctor is gazing happily at Venus, Wilf thinks to add a little extra info, "It's the only planet in the Solar System to be named for a woman."

"Well good for her. And she's all of 26 million miles from here Wilf, but you lot will get there one day."

"I don't get half the things you say, Doctor, but I'm always tellin' Donna that we'll get there! I feel that in a hundred years' time we'll be out there, stridin' amongst the stars, minglin' with all them aliens. Just you wait I tell 'er," Wilf enthuses.

"I'm impressed Wilf, you really believe all that stuff?"

"Well, been seein' enough of 'em around here lately. I figure if I wait here long enough..." Wilf shrugs a bit.

Looking up at the sky instead of Wilf, the Doctor asks, "Haven't seen a little blue box, have ya now?"

"Is that slang for somethin'?"

"No, no...well not really," the Doctor answers with a small smile still gazing at the stars.

"Right. Well Doctor, as interested as I am in all your ideas for my telescope, there are some things I been wantin' to talk to you about," Wilf states, wanting to get to the point.

Cocking an eyebrow at him the Doctor remains silent but encourages him to go on.

"You see Donna's had a really rough time of it here today and recently. Her dad passin' on and poor Lance; bless 'em. I know you lot aren't givin' us the real story about today. I can see it in Donna's face; she's seen things that she ain't seen before, an' it has her thinkin'; harder than she has in years. I want her happy, Doctor. Her mother's hard on her."

Not wanting to look at the Doctor and loose his nerve, Wilf takes a moment to fiddle with his telescope, before continuing, "I don't want you to think I'm daft, but your Rose said you an' she travel. Now, I don't know what that means, you could be spies, rich, or extra-terrestrials yourselves for all I know, but ya seem like nice folks, and I want to ask ya to take Donna for a trip. I know you saved her an' all today, but I think you and Rose would be good for her."

"Already done."

"What? Jus' like that?"

"Well, yes. Rose already asked her join us, and I think it's a great idea. Donna wasn't sure though, wanted us to ask again after dinner. Great dinner, by the way. Your daughter could frighten some Generals I know, but she can cook!"

The grin fades from his face as he starts thinking. Reaching up to rub the back of his head, the Doctor comes up with an idea, and the grin is firmly back in place.

"Say Wilf, how 'bout we give Donna a month. She can think on it, talk to you about it, and we'll be back to pick her up, say at the end of January."

"Oh Doctor! That's wonderful, that is!" Jumping up and grabbing the Doctor's hand to shake it enthusiastically, Stopping suddenly and coming to attention, he salutes and then winks at the Doctor who half raises a hand, but looks back confused. "For Queen and Country! You know, just in case. You mentionin' Generals and such." Wilf gives the Doctor another conspiratorial wink.

"Yes, right. Well. We better be getting back inside. I'm sure we've successfully dodged all the domestics!"

With matching grins the Doctor and Wilf head back down the hill towards the still brightly lit house. Sylvia must have gone to bed, because they can only see Donna and Rose giggling next to fire with glasses of wine. They look so happy that both the Doctor and Wilf stop to watch them enjoying themselves for a moment.

"Oh look, Doctor. Isn't that just beautiful?"

"Yes. The most beautiful thing in the entire Universe."

Wilf looks over at the Doctor and sees his eyes are locked on Rose. /Well he's done in. Look at that daft smile on his face. Bless 'im./

"Come on, Doctor! Donna makes the best hot chocolate, and it's cold out here!"

"Oh I love hot chocolate! Is there cinnamon?" the Doctor ask enthusiastically.

* * *

"Mum went to bed, and she wears earplugs; gramps here snores." Donna says in reference to her mum's absence as she's making the Doctor and Wilf a cup of hot chocolate. They had moved the remainder of their party to the kitchen to be a little further from the stairs anyway. Wilf looks a bit sheepish at this, but smilingly hands the Doctor his cup and sips from his own.

"So Donna, I mentioned to Wilf about your traveling with us, and he seemed to think..." he trails off as he takes his first sip of Donna's first rate cocoa. "Oh! Donna Noble, the noblest of hot chocolate makers; with cinnamon AND whipped cream. Molto bene!" The Doctor is completely sidetracked with his cocoa as he gushes his praise between sips.

Rose is pretty sure she's had enough wine, when she realises she's staring, as the Doctor indulges in his whipped cream topped cocoa. Turning pink and looking at something, anything, she catches sight of Donna who has a knowing smirk on her face. Pinker still, Rose is sure that there must be something wrong with the heating in this room.

Setting his cup down, Wilf picks up where the Doctor left off.

"Donna, luv. I think you should go with 'em. It'd be good for you to see more than this ol' place, and who knows what you'll see out there." Taking Donna's hand and giving it a bit of a squeeze and an encouraging smile, Wilf hopes she'll want to.

 _/Oh, gramps! You have NO idea!/_ Donna thinks to herself at his innocent statement.

"Well, before any of the rest of you start in on your plans…," Donna begins, pleased and amused to see both the Doctor and Rose's mouths close around their own replies. "I've made my decision, and I'll go, just not right now. I think I'd like a month. A month to figure myself out a bit, love on me ol' granddad here, and I'll need to pack of course, no idea what kind of weather we might encounter!"

"You'll need a whole month to pack?!"The Doctor questions unbelievingly.

 _/Damn good thing the Ol' Girl is bigger on the inside!_ /he thinks.

"Rude! I think that's a great idea, Donna, and whatever else you might need; we can go shopping for," Rose replies as she smacks the Doctor on the shoulder. Then she smiles brightly at both the idea of shopping with Donna, and teasing the Doctor about said shopping trips.

"Ow! What is it with you and the slapping? Fine, fine packing, shopping, one month...all good " The Doctor looks a little petulant still, but everyone can tell it's all for show,. With a sinking stomach he suddenly has a flash of Rose and Donna shopping.

 _/Shopping! Gah! Oh wait! I can drop them off to go girl shopping and I'll hunt for TARDIS parts! Right, very important, TARDIS parts. Maybe not such a bad idea after all. Everybody wins!/_  he thinks in compromise.

Getting up from the table and taking the dishes to the sink, Wilf comes back suppressing a yawn.

"Well! I'm off to bed then. Will we see ya in the mornin'? You'd be welcome, of course." He isn't sure what it is, but he has a good feeling about Rose and the Doctor. And he just knows Donna is going to have the adventure of her life. Even as excited as he is for Donna though, he's glad to have some more time with her

"Thanks much, but we'll be off. I'll be back with those new lenses I mentioned, end of January. G'night, Wilf!"

The Doctor, Rose, and Donna wave Wilf off to bed, and head out the door toward the TARDIS.

"Well I hope you two don't get up to too much trouble in the next month. I'll be looking for you." Donna has her arms wrapped around herself in the chill, but is obviously still delighted with the continued snowfall. It is late enough that you can hear the flakes land in the silence of the night.

"Donna! Time machine! What makes you think we're going to wait?" Rose says this with her tongue in tooth grin, all mischief and delight.

"Because you should, you plum! Space-man there just got you back, safe and sound. Take at least a month. Hell, take a year for all I'll know, but you need to have some time for just…well, for just yourselves. But don't be late! I had better see you here at...let's say 2:00 PM sharp, January 25th." Donna's excitement is such a nice change to how she looked earlier in the day. Both Rose and the Doctor smile back at her.

"Robbie Burns Day, well in Canada anyway! I loved good 'ol Robbie. 'Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie, O' what a panic's in thy breastie!'" The Doctor spouts this off with a perfect Scots brogue, wiggling his eyebrows at Rose and putting an arm around her shoulders; still teasing her about their visit with Queen Victoria.

Rose snuggles in for the hug. That was one of her favourite adventures, but not to be outdone, she silently sends him a little of her own favorite Burns poem.

_-And fare thee weel, my only luve, And fare thee weel awhile! And I will come again, my luve, Though it were ten thousand mile.-_

She'd had plenty of time to read in Pete's world to reminisce about her past adventures and catch up on some reading; luckily Robert Burns was there, too.

"Right. Well. Erm... Yes, we're going Donna, and I'll park the TARDIS right here, well maybe more over by that building, better than here in the street, seeing as you want us here at 2 o'clock sharp. Don't really want to damage any cars...with the TARDIS...Right. Going, us. We're going...now." He splutters to a stop, finally getting all of this out despite blushing to the tips of his ears.

Squinting her eyes at both of them, Donna is sure she just missed something.

"Oi! Are you having a fit? Go, get. Two o'clock. Don't. You. Forget," Donna punctuates with a finger in the Doctor's chest. "Now give me a hug, and get the hell out of here."

Hugs are shared all around, and with a wave Rose and the Doctor file into the TARDIS. Donna stays and watches the snow fill the small square left behind for a bit after the loveliest sound in the Universe has faded away.

On her way back to the house, she turns one more time with a grin and a light in her eyes to look at the slowly disappearing TARDIS print.

"Aliens! Ha!"

Chuckling to herself, Donna enters her house, and heads to bed. It will be a quick month, and she's already making lists in her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the next story in my 10/Time Lady Rose AU. I will mention certain episodes that I feel are fixed points, but I am more interested in the times between, and the development of my relationship. Thanks for reading, and I hope you like the start. Many, many thanks to Ashleigh for being the best Beta.
> 
> This story is completely written, so I will keep to the daily posting schedule. If you care to, please review.  
> Reviews = love :-)
> 
> Thanks !


	2. Don't Muck It Up!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, some time alone!

"There we are; in the Vortex! Where should we go first? You choose, Rose-Future, Past, new planet, different galaxy...ooo maybe -"

Rose however, cuts the Doctor off.

"Doctor, maybe it's the wine, but how about we just stay in the Vortex awhile. Sure I'm excited about being back and Donna coming along, but I'm actually really tired. I don't think I was completely caught up after ...everything...and well yesterday, I mean today...Blimey it feels like forever...Today was unpleasant... Doctor, I just- I need to rest. I don't...feel, right. Does any of that make sense?" She slumps onto the jump seat, and rests her aching head in her hands.

It makes perfect sense. He just isn't exactly sure what to do about it in the short term. Joining Rose on the jumpseat with a worried expression, he starts sorting through the options of what would be making her feel, 'not right' in such a short time. Several of the choices are alarming, but she isn't currently turning blue, or developing spots. He has a pretty good idea what the problem is, but would really like to run some more tests to know for sure. Some of those readouts from the scanners were decidedly weird.

Reaching out a hand to take one of hers, he stops midway and it falls to his lap. He's feeling a little awkward now that they're alone. At some point she's going to want to ...'talk'...not his strong suit. Well not the talking part, he's very good at that. It's the talking about feelings part that he's rubbish at. He had felt so happy and anxious to have her back, but the adventure with Donna was just like old times. Old, happy times, that he'd desperately missed. Of course, he had saved a couple of planets, toppled a couple of dictators, cured an outbreak of plague or two while he was searching for a hole in the fabric of the Universe, but it just was't the same without Rose. She knew him so well, in so many ways. He had been stumbling around for more than a year, and today's adventure was the sun coming out of the clouds. He'd felt so alive, and alive is good. Yet, none of that means he has the slightest clue how to deal with feelings. But problems? He's good at problems. Now then, what's wrong with Rose?

_**#need rest/fresh Time Lord/together/don't muck it up#** _

The Doctor is surprised by the TARDIS's use of the term, but when it's followed by a barrage of images with him doing just that; he accepts her remonstration.

/ _I know I've been a prat, but this is all so...fast! I need to start teaching her about...well, stuff. She has a human's memories of what are now, Time Lord perceptions. I bet she's getting an enormous headache from not dealing with the rest of her sensory input. I can't keep being the buffer./_

_**#REST/Time/don't muck it up!#** _

With her own healthy dose of affection the TARDIS shows him a replay of Rose telling him she loved him, and in seeing it again, he realises that he was interrupted. The memory of how he felt in that moment also comes back to him, and he can no longer stomach his own indecision in the shadow of so much joy...this time joy wins.

/ _Thank you, Dear. I do need to be reminded not to "muck it up"./_

Unexpectedly, deciding awkward is stupid, the Doctor Jumps to his feet and lifts Rose up in his arms. With a startled squeak, she puts her arms around his neck.

"What are you doing?! I'm not hurt I can walk." She knows she sounds a little peevish, but she has this horrible headache that's been getting worse all day. All the activities had done an good job of masking it, but now in the quiet of the TARDIS, she really feels like her head will explode. She presses a hand to her temple to stave off the vertigo from being picked up.

"What I'm doing Rose Tyler, is taking you to bed." With a startled look from Rose, he amends, "To your bed, I mean. You need to rest, and I'm taking you there. This is faster, 's all."

Blushing furiously but ignoring it, the Doctor heads off down the hallway towards Rose's room. Now, the significance of having it right up front and directly across from his is no longer a mystery. It had been much further down the hall for the past months, and locked. He had wanted no one else to accidentally stumble into to it. He wanted it exactly the same, every time he visited it. The only disturbance, the impression of his body on the coverlet. His previous behavior though, is the farthest thing from his mind currently.

"Rose Tyler, do you have a headache? A really bad headache?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I'm sorry, Rose. I should have realized earlier. Your new senses are giving you a lot more information than  _you_  are used to. You have all the physiological systems in place to deal with them, but Gallifreyans have a great deal of voluntary control over their internal workings. They learn as children to control certain aspects of their bodies. You are jumping in right as an adult, so you have to learn to set these systems up to sort, filter, file away, and retrieve all the new perceptions you're basically recording. That will become automatic, but right now everything is bogged down by your own memories of how you once perceived as a human. I..."

Reaching her room the TARDIS kindly opens the door for him to step through. It's completely different. The Doctor looses track of his explanation as he steps into Rose's new room.

"Rose." Is all he can say, and looking up from his (oh so comfortable) shoulder Rose gasps at seeing her room changed.

It's now shades of blue and gold. Not a stitch of pink in sight. The room itself is much larger than previously, and all the furniture is matching and elegant. The bed, a lovely almost Victorian affair is dark wood with tall posts carved with vines and roses. The sheets and cover are a deep midnight blue embroidered in metallic gold and bronze in a series of overlapping circles of varying sizes, reminiscent of Gallifreyan writing, but instead purely decorative. The floors are also wood of a lighter shade with matching walls that are paneled two thirds of the way up with the very top edge being gold. Above the wood, the walls are upholstered in a french blue damask. She now has a fireplace of her own with an art nouveau styled surround in cobalt tiles with intwined roses and vines worked on them. There are now a pair of matching dark red leather wing-back chairs in front of the fireplace and a small table, perfect for tea and a book. Her entrance to the en suite is hidden by a thick velvet curtain in darkest navy with a large gold strap-work pattern printed on it. There is so much to see. Rose looks forward to feeling better so she can explore properly.

"Oh Doctor, it's beautiful." Rose whispers. She can just reach the wall where they are standing, so she presses a hand to the wood and sends the TARDIS a wave of gratitude and awe.

_**~My Wolf, you are welcome. I enjoyed making it for you, but now, you should rest. My Thief is anxious for you, and there is much for you to learn. It will not be easy, but be patient. ~** _

Rose smiles as the Doctor carries her to the bed. Laying her on it, he makes sure she isn't running a fever, then removes her shoes for her. She's pretty sure she should be feeling awkward about that, but her head hurts so much, she can't bring herself to care.

"Can you just stop the pain? I know I can't take aspirin, but please?" She pleads, pressing her fists to her eyes, and her forehead creased in pain.

"Rose what I am going to do is completely block all your extra senses for now, ok? To set that block up I will have to go into your mind, is that alright? It can't work for long, but it will be enough for a couple of days so we can start..."

"Yes, yes! Just make it stop!"

Placing his hands to her temples, he slips past her non-existent shields and into ...complete chaos. The large library construct that had been Rose's mind-scape was in complete disarray. All her most recent memories, her experiences, sensations, thoughts...all of it was happening at once. No organization remained, and it's now a hurricane of moments and golden fire. He can NOT get lost in that, anchoring himself firmly and stepping back from the maelstrom he creates a sphere of his own shielding and wraps her chaotic new thought planes into it using his blue to shore up the walls and defenses that were once naturally part of Rose's golden mind. When he's satisfied that he has basically just walled off all of the Gallifreyan-esque parts from her conscious more human like mind-scape; he sets up some triggers to release different aspects of her new abilities as she learns how to control herself. This should hold for at least a week, which should be enough time to introduce Rose 'the human consciousness' to her new Gallifreyan physiology. Taking a look around, the library looks a little worse for wear, but it's at least stable.

Sliding out of her mind he can see she's already asleep. Reaching out physically and mentally to her, he can feel that she's resting comfortably, but already misses the tingle of her at the back of his mind. Too awkward to undress her, he tucks the blanket around Rose, and gets up to leave. He should have several hours to pour over the scanner reports. Portions of her mind felt decidedly un-Rose like, and he wanted to see if any of the equipment would have picked up what it is. Turning to look at the change in the room again, and a lingering look at Rose, the Doctor leaves.

Though there are still many questions left unanswered, and a whole new batch just waiting to be asked, the Doctor bounces out of the room and down the hall to the Infirmary with a spring in his step and a much lighter heart. One of his favorite things in the Universe (next to bananas, of course) are mysteries, and here's one he's confident he can solve. That will be nice for a change. Oh! Maybe...he will have a banana with his mystery...win, win!

About 3 hours and 12 minutes later the Doctor is still in the Infirmary taking a break from being buried in readouts and books pouring over Rose's results. At this moment, he is examining the feather the Sphynx left behind. One perfect feather; well 'feather' may be more of a metaphor. It is shaped like a feather, but it isn't made of anything that the TARDIS's scanners is willing to identify. The surface of it constantly shifts in colors and patterns with no rhyme or reason that the Doctor can find and is smooth and slick, nearly metallic. She didn't have any perfect ones left that he could see before she burst into gold and remade Rose, so his only conclusion is the Sphynx left it on purpose, but what purpose? He is deeply contemplating it, idly twisting it in his hands when he receives an insistent nudge from the TARDIS accompanied by a picture of Rose obviously having a nightmare. She is wrapped in her covers, struggling like she's trapped, and crying out. Raising his head from his work, he can hear her now.

Standing abruptly, he turns and is sprinting towards Rose's room. Kindly, the TARDIS pulls it forward so it opens directly from the Console Room. Stepping through the door the Doctor sees Rose is frantic and there are tears pouring down her face, but she's definitely still trapped in the dream. Striding to her bed and taking her hand, the Doctor is pulled forcibly into the dream before he can say a word.

_Rose is swaddled tightly in the Racnoss Empress's web, Lance has fallen, but Donna is unconscious next to her, and the Doctor is hanging over the pit from a thread being taunted by the Empress._

" _How fitting, for the last of the Time Lords to be the first meal for my children! Mwah-ha mwah-ha! I was once the last of my people, doctor-man, no longer! They rise, my children...they come!"_

_Rose could now see sharp red legs grasping the sides of the pit starting to pull themselves up over the edge. Smaller versions of the Empress...thousands...millions of them, and she was helpless. She couldn't move! The baby Racnoss were now climbing over themselves in a rush to get out of the pit. A sea of red limbs and black eyes; they were reaching for her Doctor. He is wrapped tightly, cocooned in the same webbing as she; he is a pendulum swaying as he struggles to get loose. The Racnoss get closer and are almost touching him now._

" _NO!" Rose screams. Her vision starts be overwhelmed by a bright golden fog. Straining to see Rose, the Doctor turns his head and looks at her._

" _I'm sorry Rose. So, so sorry." It is the last thing he says as the Racnoss reach him, and he is pulled into the struggling red mass of limbs, instantly overwhelmed._

_The Doctor has watched all of this from the side, glued to the spot as the scene unfolded. He is thoroughly disturbed by her dream, and not at all excited at the prospect of it having been true. Looking over at Rose he sees her with her eyes wide, vacant and bright gold. Her mouth locked in the rictus of a scream. He sees the vivid gold light start to spill from her eyes and begin to consume her body. Now terrified, he screams for Rose._

" _ROSE! No! Look at me, Rose. It's all a dream, none of this is real. Rose!" He screams her name three more times before she hears him._

" _Doctor?" The light begins fading back into her eyes, and abruptly the dream shifts._

_They are now on top of the flood house above an empty Thames. The night eerily silent._

" _Doctor? I saw you fall." Rose reaches a hand towards him, but lets it fall._

" _I'm here Rose." He takes a step forward grasping her hand, and pulls them out of the dream._

"It was just a dream. I came as soon as I could."

The TARDIS kindly supplied a flannel and some water. Pouring some of the water onto the flannel the Doctor wipes Rose's brow and cheeks, wiping away the drying tears. Still disoriented, he helps her sit up and she takes a sip of the water.

"That was horrible! How much did you see, before you rescued me?" She says giving him a small smile.

"I saw enough! Glad it didn't play out that way, thank you very much!"

Smiling himself, he keeps his tone light, not wanting to give too much weight to the nightmare. He was, in fact, horrified at what he saw happen to Rose in that dream. What was up with the gold light? More Bad Wolf? Was she somehow able to access it? Would it destroy her, him...everything?!

Thinking back to her destroying the Dalek Emperor and his army, the Doctor is terrified of Rose being consumed by that power. He knows what the Sphynx said, about Rose choosing the power, needing it, and consciously using it, but this was completely different. This was his Rose. He didn't want to loose her to the Bad Wolf. What if he already had?

"You weren't asleep for very long before the nightmare started. You should try an get some more rest." He looks at her with concern, but squeezes her hand reassuringly.

"I am still really sleepy, and drained, but my head doesn't hurt anymore. Th-thank you, for coming for me. Would you stay...with me?" She asks him hesitantly. Seeing his eyes widen, she sighs inwardly and gives him the out.

"Just till I fall asleep then? I stayed with you sometimes...before. Please?" How can he tell her, no? He can't do it. Truthfully, it's just as much for her as for himself, at this point.

"Of course, I can! Should have thought of it myself. You've rescued me from plenty of my own nightmares; it's the least I can do." Taking off his trainers, jacket, and tie, he folds them neatly on a bench that just appeared at the foot of the bed. Sitting on it, he watches Rose go to the en suite.

 _/How many nights I had my own nightmares after I lost her. I can only imagine it was the same for her. And no one to really be a comfort for either of us. What a pair we make!/_  Chuckling to himself, he looks around the room again, and sees that his favorite pair of pajamas (the blue ones with smiling bananas) has just materialized on the bench next to him.

/ _What are you up to, ol' girl?/_

**#idiot/love/rest#**

Blushing at the TARDIS's obvious attempt at encouraging he and Rose together, he stares at his jimjams. Picking them up he contemplates whether he should change or not.

_/Right. Possible scenarios...Rose sees me in shirts and pants, safe or disappointed? Rose sees me in jimjams, safe or disappointed? Rose sees me in jimjams, and….Nope. Stop right there./_

He isn't a prude, really he isn't, but he can not  _ **think**_  of Rose...sexually?...but, wait. Can he? She's a Time Lord now. Well, really it seems that somehow she's a human/Time Lord/TARDIS hybrid, however the hell that could happen!

_/Blimey! That would make interesting kids. Ohmigod! Kids with Rose! No looms, so that means...sex. Are you crazy/drunk/high?! Well...it isn't like you don'y know how...isn't the first time either. I'm arguing with myself, and loosing. Nutter!/_

With these thoughts he imagines Rose smiling at him(the tip of her little pink tongue poking out,) holding his hand (perfect fit), hugs (warm and safe), sneaking looks at her when she's been all dressed up (Dickens and Cardiff). Her face sleeping.

In his ninth self, he would often have horrible nightmares. Years and years of fruitless battles. So many dead. Some of those dead would live and die hundreds of times as viable timelines were suddenly wiped out, or replaced, or pulled apart and remade. The Doctor can not imagine anything more terrible than warfare between time-sensitive races. The sadistic imaginings of crazed Time Lords and Daleks rampaging across the fabric of reality. Death and destruction was the minimum damage caused. There are absolutely worse things than death, and he had caused or witnessed too much of it. The personal toll of ending it; of locking it in place, of destroying everything that he hated and loved most in the Universe, should have killed him. He had wanted it to kill him. And because it did not, he dreamed.

Then Rose came bursting into his life, all smiles, hugs, laughter, and teasing. His pink and yellow human. It was like a rain storm in the desert. He had been so parched for want of interaction, of caring, of companionship, that he'd asked her twice. Such a simple thing, asking again. He had  _ **never**_  done it before, and probably wouldn't again. But he had done it for Rose. She was exactly what he needed. So much so, that when he died saving her, he  _ **remade**_  himself for her. This was not the first time he had regenerated in the presence of his companions, but it was the first time that he regenerated  _ **for**_  that companion. Rose was special.

It started with her being in the kitchen when he would awaken from a nightmare with a cup of tea already made for him. They would never talk about it, but he began to think of it as magical. It got to the point where he would awaken drenched in sweat with a single scream clinched in his teeth and the scream of millions reverberating in his head, and know Rose would be in the kitchen with a cuppa. Getting up and walking down the hall, she was always,  _ **always**_  there.

Then one night when he had walked in apparently in a horror numbed daze, he had actually begun telling her his dream. When he realized what he was doing and looked up at her biting the rest of the narrative off; he saw she was crying. Completely without judgement in her gaze, weeping for him, not because of him. She reached out took his hand with humbling compassion, and led him back to bed. He was so gobsmacked, he let her. Once she had him tucked in, she spooned right next to him, on top of the covers, and held on tight. He had never slept so well. She wasn't there every time he slept, but when it was bad, she appeared. In time, he got better.  _ **Rose**_ , made him better.

After he regenerated the nightmares lessened. Having all your cells rewritten added another wall between him and the recollection of the experience. Now, he was more outwardly affectionate, but more afraid of his dependance on Rose. Thinking back on it, the Doctor  _ **knows**_  that if he'd stayed leather and ears longer, he would have taken his relationship with Rose further; told her he loved her. Leather wasn't afraid of the commitment. Why the hell was he?

/ _WHAT is my problem?! Be honest with yourself for once. Human. That was your problem. And now, you selfish, hypocritical prat, she's much more than that, and_ _ **now**_ _you start thinking you could have a forever with her. God, how can she possibly love me...this me? The TARDIS is right, I am a colossal idiot./_

Rose steps out of the bathroom in her pajamas toweling her hair dry to see the Doctor sitting on the bench at the foot of the bed mostly dressed with his hands in his hair, elbows on knees, and staring at his pajamas. She pauses, rubbing at her hair watching him.

/ _What is he doing? Are they the wrong jimjams? Are those bananas? Oh! He's trying to decide if he's going to put them on. He's freaking out. Idiot./_

Smiling, she drops her towel in the hamper and steps toward the bed. Sliding under the covers, she decides to not give him the safe out a second time. She isn't going anywhere. This is her home, and they are going to figure this out. That doesn't mean she's going to push, but she is definitely not going to make it easy for him to continue running from her. She's done with waiting on his decisions. She is perfectly capable of making them; even ones for him.

"I like those; you should put them on." She says breezily. The model of nonchalance."What?" The Doctor snaps his head up, no longer lost in his thoughts. Looking around he sees Rose is just slipping back into bed. She pats the side next to her.

"I said, I like those jimjams. You should put them on. They'll be more comfortable than slacks and a button shirt." With a smile she pats the covers again...pat...pat.

Staring at her as if his mind has turned into concrete with his pajamas clinched in his hands, he continues sitting there. Rose is starting to wonder if she should be worried about him, when he swiftly gets up and walks into the bathroom.

_/Well that was weird! Darling, is he alright?/_

_**~Yes. He cares, my Wolf. He cares more than he understands, and it frightens him. He has never felt so strongly before, and is unfamiliar. It is why he runs. He understand danger, survival, struggle. He does not understand love, he fears it. He is trying. Do not loose faith~** _

/ _Oh I have faith. I'm here because of faith. If there is one thing in the Universe I believe in, I believe in the Doctor. And you of course, Darling/_  She adds patting the wall behind her. The TARDIS sings to Rose of her own love for the both of them.

Parting the velvet curtain the Doctor steps through in his happy banana jimjams. Seeing Rose still in bed, he strides quickly to the side she is not occupying and stands beside the bed. Afraid to say anything and scare him away, she just pulls the covers back, lays down and turns her back to him. A long second passes, and finally there's a soft sigh. The bed shifts as he gets under the covers. Rose reaches up and touches the wall; the TARDIS lowers the lights. The Doctor lays on his back for several minutes nearly vibrating, but then relaxes, turns, and spoons with Rose. They have  _never_  done this before. She has spooned him, but never under the covers, just there for comfort. This is also for comfort, hers this time, but it is also a very small promise of more.

"Doctor?"

"Hmmm?"

"Thank you for taking the headache away and saving me from the crazy spider lady."

"Welcome."

"I missed you."

"I missed you, too."

In the softness of the dark, in such stillness in Space, in the quiet breathing of two people who love each other, it is enough.


	3. Senses Working Overtime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's explain some things, shall we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you don't mind a long one! :-)

Senses Working Overtime

Rose slowly comes back to herself. She's so comfortable. Taking in a deep breath, several things click into her awareness-she doesn't know how long she's slept, there's a delicious man that smells like the Doctor completely draped over her side, and his warm breath is blowing her hair into her eyes. She can tell by the rhythm of his breathing that he's still deeply asleep. Not wanting to wake him, she only moves her head slowly to the left, to see if she can glimpse his face. There he is. It's smooth and relaxed, a smattering of freckles lay across his nose and cheeks. His jaw slack, he has drooled a touch into her pillow.

/ _I'm totally going to tease him about drooling!/_  she thinks to herself in amusement. Her expression softens as she continues observing him in sleep, memorising his features in this unusually calm moment. He's always so animated, it's hard to envision that he can be at rest.

/ _He must have been exhausted. He'd said it was more than a year of searching for a way to reach me. Knowing how I felt, it must have been much worse for him. He's lost so much./_  She can't suppress the shudder as her memories of that hateful wall rear up in her mind.

Murmuring in his sleep but not waking, the Doctor settles in closer to Rose. On his side his knees tucked up under hers now, and both his hands pressed together under his chin against her shoulder-It's adorable.

Not wanting to break the moment, Rose settles in, waiting for him to wake up. Recollecting her thoughts upon awakening; she doesn't know how long they've been in bed. She'd only been back a couple of days now, but knowing how much time has passed, is so far her favourite of the new abilities. Maybe because it makes sense. Now, she misses it. Thinking back on last night she remembers the Doctor saying he would suppress all the Gallifreyan senses, but that it wouldn't hold for long. She tries to access the information the Sphynx and the TARDIS had given her, but it's also locked up.

/ _Bugger! Of course now that I actually feel great, and have a moment, I can't explore,/_ she thinks, absently miffed.

Knowing it won't be forever, and really not wanting to deal with another headache like the last one, she contents herself with thinking back over all the events since her return. Several points stand out as wanting more in depth perusal. First, she really must come to grips with being a Time Lord now...well Lady. There are so many possibilities wrapped up in that awareness. The forever she had promised him is very different currency this time. Grinning to herself, she wonders how long that forever might actually be. Secondly, The Sphynx had mentioned she would see her mom again soon. Knowing how impossible that was this last time, she can't imagine how it might happen. Deciding to move on for now, she comes to the third point. The one she can't possibly ignore in her current position; the Doctor was interrupted in expressing his reply to her,"I love you, Doctor." What was he about to say? She might be a Time Lord all of a sudden, but so far her life was as a human, and she needed to hear the words. Patience she had plenty of, but she needed answers at some point.

* * *

Usually the Doctor awakens instantly, one moment asleep, the next awake. His mind already spinning through several levels of potential activities, breakfast, thermo-couplings, new planet, Fibonacci progressions for fun...and so on. Today however, wakefulness is the surface of the ocean at dawn; slow and easy. He feels himself float out of sleep, opening his eyes to the Sun of Rose's smile. Naturally, he returns the slow smile, thinking that every morning should start this way. Then the rest of his brain kicks in, and the part that's screaming "Holy shit! You're in Rose's bed, snuggling!" is a little louder than is comfortable. Stiffening a moment in his agitation, he sees the light fade from Rose's eyes. That, is much more painful than the familiar fear of caring for Rose. Stuffing the frantic "Run! Run, now before you regret it!" voice in a box and shoving it deep, the Doctor grins sunnily at Rose and stretches.

"Good morning Rose Tyler, I trust you slept well. I think that's the best rest I've had in years!" he tells her, trying to rekindle the sunlight in her eyes. He stretches again and lets loose a jaw cracking yawn. Coming up on one elbow, his head cradled in his hand, he's relaxes watching Rose, glad to see the light come back into her gaze.

"I did sleep well, thanks to you. I was actually thinking every morning should start this way..." Seeing his eyes widen, but feeling bold, she mirrors his position, "that is until I saw you'd drooled...on my pillow," she ends with teasing. She isn't sure why he hesitated a moment ago, but she could play along and it ignore it; same as him.

"Time Lords do not..."

She points at the obvious dark spot on the pillow near where her shoulder had been. With a look of outraged pride on his face and smug amusement on hers, they both burst out laughing. A short pillow fight ensues until Rose must get out of bed to use the loo.

After completing her morning ablutions and wrapped in a warm robe, she expects to come back to a Doctor-free room, but she's wrong. Laying on her made bed, is a half dressed Time Lord. His Jacket folded neatly with his jimjams and trainers on the bench. The image of a barefoot Doctor sprawled on her bed waiting for her, is an image that Rose has just permanently emblazoned on a secret wall in her mind.

He grins at her again, when she pauses upon entering the room. He knew it wouldn't be what she expected, and that's exactly why he did it. Out of the blue, he has this deep well of desire to surprise Rose with good surprises. Just to see the light in her eyes that says, happy.

"I thought we might stay in the Vortex a few days, till we get your Time-Lordy bits all sorted. Time-Lordy bits...never let me say that again, Rose Tyler!" The look on his face would leave you to think the words tasted bad.

"Yes sir! No Time-Lordy bits!" She can't help laughing at him. "How about after breakfast. I'll make banana bread pancakes!"

"Rose Tyler! You keep saying things like that, and I'll have to keep you around forever!" he enthuses.

"Yes, Doctor. That is the very point," she replies boldly. "Now, get out. I have to get dressed. Then I'll start breakfast. Tea?"

She states all of this with a hand at the sash of her robe, and a raised eyebrow. Now that she's decided to not be the meek 19 year old that had been content to let him set the pace, she feels much better about herself. She has an opportunity here, and it is not an opportunity to find more regrets.

"Oi! Cheeky," he says good-naturedly. He has really missed their teasing, and the flirting if he's being honest. Gathering his things and heading out of Rose's room, he stops by his own to finish dressing and complete his morning washing up. Throughout, he's thinking about forever. Such a simple word for humans, but for his people, who could nearly touch eternity baring unnecessary regenerations, it had meanings far deeper. It's why he'd previously feared her promise. He could still choose to fear it. He could feel that dreaded coil low in his belly. Time Lord or not, she could still be ripped from him. Although, his thoughts taking a lighter turn, it should be impossible to lose her to the Void now that the walls have closed again. Not enough Time Lords to manage an opening. And there would be nowhere in this Universe that someone could hide his Rose from him. Somehow finding this thought heartening, he heads off bouncing towards the kitchen humming merrily to himself.

* * *

The Doctor and Rose are much easier around each other this morning. Perhaps it's because they're both content with where they are. Last night was a turning point, but more of a merging than a drastic left turn. They laugh and joke their way through breakfast. The Doctor attempting to 'help', and getting swatted with a spatula. Rose made an enormous pile of banana bread pancakes, with plenty of nuts, cinnamon, and vanilla, and powdered sugar for the topping. After two cups of tea and an entirely wiped out batch of pancakes the teacher and student are ready to begin the day's lesson.

Heading to the Library with fresh cups of tea, they take up positions on the sofa, facing each other. Leaning back, the Doctor looks at Rose and takes a deep breath.

"Okay Rose, so I thought we would start with my telling you about your new physiology. That work for you?"

"Well actually Doctor, I think I have all that knowledge already. I just don't know how to access it, and I don't know how to implement it. At least the Sphynx told me I have everything, but I got the feeling it's like riding a bike. I could watch other people ride their bikes for years, but that doesn't mean that I know how to ride my own bike. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, actually it's a great metaphor, but I am confused as to how you'd already have the information."

"The Sphynx said she gave me all the knowledge that the TARDIS had given her. I remember a hallway with doors with different symbols on them. She also said we had tasks to complete, to continue fixing the damage done to the Universe. I have no idea what that means, but that's what she shared with me. So, I think if we can access my stored knowledge, then you could show me how 'what I know', compares to 'what I actually need to do'. Would that work?"

The Doctor's mind is awhirl with all the possibilities. He's very curious about how much Rose has stuffed into her head. What knowledge had the TARDIS given to the Sphynx? Tasks, sounds ominous. Seeing if he can get an answer from the TARDIS, he decides to start there.

_/So, Dear, do you think you can give me an idea as to what Rose would know from the Sphynx?/_

**_#/Gallifrey/history/TARDIS+Time Lord/dimensions/Time War/language#_ **

He also receives brief mental snapshots of what she means by each of her thoughts. Astrological as well as topographical data about the planet/the history of Time Lord civilisation/the experiences of Time Lords and their symbiotic relationship with the TARDIS/Loads of technical data on the whys and hows of all 11 dimensions, accessible and inaccessible, and everything one would need to know to speak and write three versions of Gallifreyan. She completely skipped any images of the Time War, for which he is grateful, but not excited that Rose could have access to that knowledge. He doesn't want her subjected to that, maybe he can remove it or hide it away.

**#No!#**

_/But she doesn't need it! What would it help? It wasn't her war.../_

He could keep coming up with excuses, but he can feel that he won't win this argument. He dreads what will happen if Rose gains access to that information. Truthfully, he's scared of what she would think of him.

Her thoughts too complex for the limited speech she's capable of with the Doctor, the TARDIS sends him her feelings. Impressing on him that Rose shares that history now, though she wasn't born to it, and Rose has never run from the Doctor. Her love is not so simple to be so easily cast aside. He should trust Rose.

_/I do trust Rose. I just can't lose her, most especially because of my own past actions./_

_**#faith#** _

Choosing to drop that subject, the Doctor moves to his next question.

_/And how much knowledge did you give to Rose?/_

_**#biological and physiological/temporal mechanics/piloting/languages#** _

_/Right! Well I guess she does have everything stuffed in that new brain of hers except the practical experience. This will be easier than I thought./_  He thanks the TARDIS, but she isn't as convinced that this will be so easy. She knows Rose better than anyone.

From Rose's perspective the Doctor was definitely thinking, but she could also just sense that he and the TARDIS were communicating.

_/What's up, darling?/_

**_~My Thief wishes to know what knowledge the Matriarch and I have already gifted you. He is concerned with some of it, but will not interfere.~_ **

_/What could he be scared of? The tasks?/_

**_~No, he has forgotten about those at the moment. It is the Time War. You know everything I know about it, which is mostly my, and therefore our, direct experiences and communications before and during the War. He is afraid of what you would think of him, seeing what he had to do to save us all.~_ **

/ _But he had no choice; he told me that./_

_**~He had a choice; it just is not in his nature to choose any other way.~** _

_/Survive while destroying both the enemy and his own people, so the rest of the Universe could live./_

_**~It is much more complicated than that, but essentially yes. Although, he survived because of me. That, was not his choice.~** _

_/Does he know that? That you saved him? I'm glad you did./_

_**~ No, but he may suspect, and I was not alone in assisting his survival. We have never explored the topic.~** _

_/Don't worry, I won't go looking for the information./_

_**~You will not need to. It will be there when you require it, or if he unlocks it for you. Otherwise, it will stay tucked away. Thank you. Are you ready to begin?~** _

_/Yup!/_

Finishing their individual TARDIS conversations at essentially the same time, they both smile, but haven't paid attention to the minute or two it took.

"Okay, Rose. The TARDIS agrees that you have all the information and more that you need to get started. I should be able to expose an aspect of physiology for you to access and you can learn to control and manipulate it. Ready?" he asks, sliding closer and raising his hands to place on her head, he pauses for permission.

"As I'll ever be!" she says in assent. Rose is drawn inward with the Doctor consciously this time. She sees that they are in a large multi-leveled library in a state of disarray. There are books strewn around, and pages laying all over. It looks like a tornado went through. One of the faceted walls is completely involved with a portion of what is obviously a sphere. It is a bright smooth blue, but she can just see that it is filled with swirling gold.

"What is that, Doctor?" Rose asks, out of curiosity. She isn't worried about it, but she's concerned that it doesn't look like it belongs.

"That, Rose, is anything Gallifreyan that was running rampant in here, locked in a shield I made," he replies, proud of her fearlessness and determination to have all these new aspects of herself sorted and understood.

"Are you the blue? That would make me the gold. Puts a whole new light on my new room décor, don't you think, Doctor?" she teases, tossing him a wink. The idea that the TARDIS decorated her new room in the colours of their mental energies makes Rose laugh out loud.

The Doctor is a little uncertain that this revelation is cause for laughter, but he will have to have a conversation about it with the TARDIS later.

"Blue and gold, eh? Interesting. I don't see the differences as colour. I feel them as yours and mine, but I don't interpret that as colour. Fascinating."

"Now you sound like Spock." She says with a giggle.

"Focus!" he says with a grin. "The Library is your metaphor for the entrance to your mind-scape, your Foyer. It's really a very clever bit of organisation, unusual for most humans. The sphere is temporary, but you may want to consider that side a corridor instead of another wall. You will need more space to store all the information you'll be receiving. As a human you took in information and created the shelving system to store the blocks of data that the books contained. Now that not only your capacity to accumulate input has increased, so has your ability to store it. You may want to reorganise the shelves as balconies with doors, and each door is a room with all the data stored therein. You will need infinite balconies or corridors to continue storing the information. You will have access to every sense you utilise to experience every situation, and all of that information will be stored. Each person's organisation is different, it's very personal. Would you like to try that step first? I can leave if you'd be more comfortable."

"I didn't grow up this way, needing to think about such things. I'm much more comfortable with you staying. How do I change the layout. What do I need to do?"

"It's your mind, Rose. Think the changes in the greatest detail you can come up with, and it will change. The finer the detail, the more permanent the change."

"Oh, okay! Fun." With a cheeky grin, she closes her eyes, and concentrates for a couple of minutes. Opening her eyes, she's amazed at the difference. Where before it had been a dim but grand library, now it is reminiscent of the Roman Colosseum. Surrounded by three round stories of white stone with beautiful doors. The circles of the room broken into four grand hallways lined with more doors that lead off into the distance. The entire construct is light and airy, fresh. It appears that rooms with information have symbols on the doors, otherwise they are blank. The sphere is now in the center of the space, dwarfed by the structure. Looking over at the Doctor she catches the look of startled awe on his face, before he masks it with a cough and a smile.

"Well, done. Impressive even. What made you choose the style?"

"I thought of the Colosseum when you mentioned balconies, and it grew from there. You know, like we saw in Rome."

"Excellent! Rome, of course. Very clever you are, Rose Tyler! Now let's get this lot put away," he says determinedly, walking toward the sphere with Rose following and continuing the lesson.

"This is going to be a little trickier, because the Time Lord senses want to be dominant. They were causing serious chaos in here yesterday, but your new construct is much more solid, and going to be more conducive to organising what's in here. Now all your knowledge from the TARDIS and the Sphynx is already behind their doors. What is in here is specifically related to how it 'feels' to be Gallifreyan in the world," he imparts, waving at the sphere.  "It contains your regular though heightened senses of sight, sound, taste, smell and touch, but it also has your time-sense and your telepathy, as well as the several extra senses related to time and higher dimensions that I can't really describe now, but will make more sense later. What we need to do, is examine each sense, and give it a door. As we reintegrate you with your new senses, the related knowledge from the TARDIS and the Sphynx will be available again. Got it?" he finishes with a flourish and a grin.

"I think so, but why do they each need their own door, why not just senses, bang; one door? And why do the 'superior Time Lord' senses make any difference about knowing how my respiratory bypass works?" she asks, confused.

"Good questions Rose Tyler! Because after a thousand years, you want to be able to identify the smell of petrichor without having to remember where you were at the time you first smelled it, how it felt when the rain first touched your skin, what bird was that, what you had had for lunch, what time of day it was, and what you were thinking at that moment. It can save your life to not sift through everything when all you really need is the one answer. Now, much of the knowledge, especially that related to how your body works, is directly related to those senses. You can't know what you can't perceive," he says, laying his finger along side he nose.

"Wow, I had never looked at an experience as being so complicated, but I guess after a millennia of them, I can see how trying to locate just one portion of one memory of one moment could be really difficult. What is petrichor?"

"The smell created by rain falling on dust."he answers absently. "So what we are going to do is lay both our hands on the sphere. You are going to think of the sense you want to access, and I am going to keep everything else in. So which are we doing first?"

"Let's start easy. How about smell?"

"Smell it is! One of my favourites...most of the time. Alright, together."

Placing both of their hands on the surface of the sphere, Rose concentrates on her sense of smell. She isn't exactly sure how to do that, so she thinks of smells-a fresh cup of tea, clean sheets, the unique scent that is the Doctor... Suddenly Rose smells memories of those things specifically, as well as so much more. She knows exactly what kind of rock her Colosseum is made from (limestone) by the way the its' scent changes in the sunlight. She can smell that neither of them showered this morning. She can still smell the banana on her fingers, and the specific pomade that the Doctor uses. She's almost sure she could tell the ingredients if it had been fresh that morning.

"Wow! I had no idea that...,"she starts to exclaim.

"Pick a door Rose, and will it in there! Then remove your hand. I can't buffer the rest of the senses in the sphere, and process my entire sense of smell and yours, which is subtly different by the way," the Doctor says in a slightly strained voice.

"Oh, Sorry!" Rose apologises. She picks a door in an unused section of the main room and thinks that that is where smell should go. Just that quickly, the door is slightly darker and has a symbol on it in Gallifreyan.

 _/It's probably a nose./_  Laughing to herself, she looks back to the Doctor, who has an inquisitive eyebrow raised.

"I was thinking that the symbol on the door is probably a nose," she says with a smile.

"Well not exactly, but it does represent scent. It will make much more sense, when you know the conceptual meanings behind written Gallifreyan. That will happen after time and telepathy. What's next? Want to try something more difficult? How about your Time-sense?"

"How do I envision that? I enjoy knowing how much time has passed, but I assume it's more than that."

"It is indeed," he hadn't realised how much he would enjoy this process.  His Rose is just so bright, he thinks happily as he continues with her lessons.  "But that's only part of it, it's also your ability to see other's timelines. While concentrating, you can glimpse the threads of a creature's life, how it connects with others, how it connects with fixed points or not, and also where it diverges or joins. You can also pick up Time Relative moments like fixed points or flux points. You will feel them, physically. The way some points may or may NOT be manipulated. As well as an impression of the possible outcomes of the probabilities associated with the different paths available. It is what made my people observers. Well, most of them. They had ways around their own laws of non-interference though. You'll learn all that soon enough as well." He says this last with an eye-roll that implies soon to be shared exasperation. Similar to knowing the child will continue to touch the oven door until they are burned, even after you've told them no...several dozen times.

"Alright, I think that gives me a pretty good idea of what to look for," Rose says, hoping she sounds confident.

Raising their hands together and placing them on the sphere, Rose ponders what the Doctor has just explained to her. She thinks about the passage of time in precise increments. She's startled by the shift in her perceptions. At first there is no visual stimuli. She can again sense and accrue the flow of time. She now has the ability to notice that they have been at this for 2 hours, 13 minutes, and 56 seconds.

As she explores that, she sees something move out of the corner of her eye. Knowing better than to look directly at it, she concentrates on the movement peripherally. She's beginning to perceive a blue-coloured, knotted cord that extends from the Doctor. Now, that she can 'see' it she looks at it directly. It's thick and shimmering; the surface shifting with barely detected movement. As she glances along it she can see many coloured threads that join in, ride along it, and then vanish. There are many joinings and many knots. Amazed, she looks at herself; hers is gold. It is less thick, has less, knots, threads, and joinings, but she can see it slam into the Doctors at a point where it is a slightly different shade of blue, much darker, just after a large complex knot. Then, there are several smaller knots, more coloured threads, and now she sees a severing. The loose golden end pointing away from the main bright blue body, waving dejectedly. It's mostly only blue for a ways with very short filaments of other colours, and then her gold cord bursts out of his again, but now it's wound around it tightly and appears to stay connected for a very long distance; further than she can see without following it.

She realises this is their story told in the most unique sense the Time Lords have. Without thinking, she reaches out to touch the Timeline as if it is a physical thing, and because she assumes the truth of it, it is therefore truth. Before the Doctor can tell her not to, she touches the spot where the frayed gold strand leaves the blue, knowing this is Canary Wharf. Not knowing what's going to happen she is completely unprepared to experience that entire day's sensations from both perspectives in a crash of about 3 seconds flat, and a nauseating feeling of someone brushing their fingers through her soul. Overwhelmed, Rose slams to her knees, no longer touching the cords. A very pale Doctor reaches out to keep her upright, and as they touch her vision of their mingled time-lines vanishes.

"What happened? Oh, I feel sick." Leaning forward, Rose clutches her knees breathing through her nose.

"Here, sit down all the way. Tell me exactly what you saw, and what you did. Then I'll tell you what I saw you do." Helping her sit on the stone, the Doctor takes Rose's hand in his.

Nodding, she explains how she felt as her sense of time's flow returned, explained about seeing his timeline and then her own, the twinning, then her figuring out the landscape of them, the knots and filaments, then the sensation of touching it at the Canary Wharf junction, and finally how odd it felt beyond the reliving if the experiences.

"The colours thing is very interesting to me. I wonder if the TARDIS sees the colours, if that's where you get it, or if it's a human trait. Hmmm...well, I saw your eyes lose focus, and you couldn't hear me call to you. Then you reached out your hand. I wasn't sure what you were doing, what you could be reaching for, then it felt like you slid your hand through my skin and touched my spine; very unpleasant. What you saw is exactly what you think it is, our timelines. You can see other's, but you only get that one clear sight of yours or anyone very close to you. The closer you are to a person the less you can see. It's a failsafe built in to stop individuals from changing things that shouldn't be changed. The first time a Gallifreyan child witnesses their time-line is when they get to choose their name. It also means that they'll be going to the Academy. It usually happens soon after we're shown the Untempered Schism at the age of eight," he explains.

"I saw the frayed end of my timeline at Canary Wharf and it made me sad. That's why I reached for it," she explains. She can't imagine how thankful she is she didn't reach for that big knot that must have been the Time War. With a shudder she looks back to the Doctor.

"Timelines aren't meant to be tangible, Rose. I'm surprised you could touch it. If I could have seen Canary Wharf coming I would have torn the Universe apart to keep it from happening. Obviously that would've had dire consequences, thus why you can no longer see our timelines clearly."

What he doesn't mention is that he's thrilled to know that they're twined together for so far. The reassurance that offers is a weight lifted; one he hadn't realized was bearing him down. Not that it's written in stone. He knows better than most that time can be re-written, but he prefers to not worry about that for once.

"It didn't occur to me that I wouldn't be able to touch it." she says matter-of-factly. "Let's get the rest of this finished. I'm tired, hungry, and I want a bath. A really hot, really long bath with bubbles."

"And there is perverse Quantum Physics for you, Rose Tyler. Like the cat who walked through walls, because no one had told her she couldn't. Brilliant." Laughing with delight, he pulls Rose to her feet. Now that she knows what they're doing, the rest of the senses go quickly and smoothly. It gets a little dicey with the weird extra dimensional ones that defy description, but they manage. Smiling tiredly, but well pleased with the work they've done, the Doctor shows Rose how to exit her mind-scape. Having spent 7 hours and 56 minutes in there, it was disorienting to return to the Library, cold tea, and sore backs.

"Tomorrow's lesson we'll work on using your telepathy. We're safe in the TARDIS, but we can't leave until you can shield yourself well, and have some experience with defending yourself. "MmmmmmmERRRRggghhhh!"

Standing and stretching with much joint popping the Doctor helps Rose up, and they head off to the Kitchen.

* * *

Dancing around each other in easy camaraderie, Rose and the Doctor prepare a simple stir-fry for dinner. They tease and joke with one another the entire time. The Doctor nearly destroys the rice cooker convinced that sonicing it would make it better. It makes a lot of noise, and distresses the TARDIS who threatens to take the Kitchen away, but they finally get dinner made and sit at the table to enjoy it.

"Doctor, did you purposely choose to do telepathy last?" Rose asks as she's dishing up another helping.

"Yes. Hmmm, Rose that was sooo good!" He has just finished his third helping, and now leans back contentedly in his chair.

"Well, are you going to tell me why?" Rose prompts.

"Oh sorry! I was distracted by my plans for a real sonic cooker. I know I can figure it out." He says with a grin, and a warning groan from the TARDIS.

"I saved telepathy for last so there'd be no distractions when dealing with it. As the final sense, once you touched the sphere it was gone, and you had only one door left. Plus you were tired enough at that point that you didn't explore it at all, and just put it away. That's best."

"Best?" Rose is clearly confused, but encouraging him to continue. She moves the dishes to the sink, for the TARDIS to start on. Holding up the teapot in inquiry to the Doctor, she starts a pot of tea after receiving a nod.

"There are not many telepathic races in the Universe, Rose," he begins.  "It's odd, since it seems like such a handy skill to have, but there are maybe a hundred races out of billions that are truly telepathic. There are a few dozen more that are sensitive, like humans eventually, but sensitives are not exactly the same. The truly telepathic are that way from birth, pre-birth actually. The mother forms a telepathic bond with her child in-utero. It protects both of them from each other as the baby grows, and through birth. But see, being telepathically aware of all the thoughts and emotions of every living thing around you...from before birth, makes you vulnerable as a species. It is one of the reasons why Rassilon developed the Looms. Have Time Lord babies, with none of the difficulty, and none of the joy; out pops a fully formed infant without that initial parental bond. This means that the child's emotional education starts at birth, just like non-telepathic species. And though they are of course sensitive to emotions, they can be trained out of them. Impassive, non-emotional, arrogant, and Time Lord-that is what we made ourselves into. It's also ultimately what led to our defeat."

Placing his cup in front of him, Rose takes his hand as she sits to her own cup of tea.

"So you were...Loomed?" What a bizarre idea. Did they grow them in fancy high-tech buckets?" she asks with a teasing grin.

"Yes and no. My parents told everyone I was Loomed at first, Birthing was considered uncouth, but eventually it was obvious that I wasn't."

"You have a bellybutton!" Rose blurts out, and then blushes to the roots of her hair, as the memory of how she knows slides past her minds eye.

"Yes, exactly," he says, smirking and enjoying her discomfort.  

Knowing precisely how she knows that, he teases her any way. His Rose as a pink and yellow Time Lady is just as fetching as she was when human.  "But how would you know that, Rose Tyler?"

Standing abruptly, Rose announces, that she's overdue for her long and bubble filled bath. Still blushing furiously she makes her escape.

* * *

In her room, she finds the TARDIS has already pulled her bath and there's an array of bubbles and oils to choose from. Many are combinations of scents that she's either never have heard of, or familiar scents that it would never have occurred to her mix. With her newly heightened senses, testing them is a whole new adventure. Such as the pine, mandarin orange, cherry blossom (yuck!), or the Petruvian battle berry, wort beetle.(Umm, no.) Rose settles on one with Petrichor, since that was a new word today, and she likes rain, so why not. She loves it! It smells like rain and sun, and just a hint of ocean. Gorgeous! She can't wait to use it.

_/Oh you're a love! Thank you so much Darling; you're my favourite TARDIS ever!/_

**~Silly! Since I am the only TARDIS you have known that makes it easy.~**  The comment pleases the TARDIS none the less.

They laugh together and Rose shares her experiences of the day with Darling. Eyes popping open, Rose realizes that she thinks of it as a name for the TARDIS. Darling; she means it as more than a term of endearment. A TARDIS is a great and wonderful thing, but she's so much more to her, more like a sister. Worrying that that might be viewed as rude, she asks the TARDIS her opinion.

_**~ My Thief sometimes calls me Sexy, and you my Wolf, call me Darling. Naming is a show of love and affection. I receive the gifts of names from both of you.~** _

Glad that Darling understands and is pleased, she finishes her bath. Stepping out of the steaming tub, Rose feels much better, but she's definitely tired again, and looking forward to her bed. Wondering when she'll get to the point of needing less sleep, she all of a sudden understands her first Doctor's complaints about sleeping her little human life away.

Feeling a wave of nostalgia wash through her, she takes a moment to remember her first Doctor, all leather and gruff attitude. The new access to her memories, and more concise recall, means she can literally relive snatches of their time together. Practicing this new talent while getting ready for bed, she can really see the pieces of personality from her current Doctor in her first and the opposite also being true. Rose wonders about his previous selves. What was he like? What did he look like? Where did the personality pieces fit together? This leads her to wonder if she'll change, too. Now that she can regenerate. Will she be ginger next time, or dark skinned? So many questions!

/ _Darling? When will I have access to the knowledge that's stored? I have so many questions and getting the Doctor to talk is not always...productive if he doesn't like the subject./_

**_~True, but I can not grant you access before you are ready. It will release and you will know the information. I do not know the triggers.~_ **

Frustrated, but again comforting herself that it wouldn't be for long, she drops the subject. Finished in the bathroom, she steps out in her tank top and shorts expecting to maybe get another chapter of Harry Potter in before she's too tired. Pete's World didn't have Harry Potter or J.K. Rowling, or potatoes...God forsaken place! She had been part way through Half Blood Prince when she was lost, and not knowing what happened drove her barmy. Coming through the curtain, she stops dead seeing the Doctor in a chair before her fireplace, reading.

/ _Warning!?_ / Rose mentally shrieks.

 _ **~He asked me not to.~**_  Darling says with a pink tinged brush of affection.

Rolling her eyes at the pair, Rose finishes stepping into the room affecting an air of disregard for the fact that the Doctor is lounging in her room in a robe, brainy-specs perched on his nose, and with a startled look on his face that clearly says whatever he was expecting...it wasn't Rose in a tank and shorts. Rose is hoping the startled look will make him forget that he did in fact, catch her unaware.

Striding to her bed, Rose slides under the covers, picks up her book, and opens it to her bookmark before she peers at the Doctor over its' edge.

"Yes? Is everything alright? I wouldn't have thought you would need to sleep two nights in a row, and I don't plan on any nightmares tonight...why am I so tired? I feel like I'm sleeping all the time!" Realising she sounds like the Doctor rambling on, her mouth clicks shut.

"Oh! Hrrmm, uhhh..Fine. Yes everything's fine. Did you plan on last night's bad dream? I can't imagine you would have, who would? Well, you see...Right! Ummm..." Rubbing the back of his head with one hand and pinching the bridge of his nose with the other, he has completely lost his train of thought. Seeing Rose step out in almost no clothes at all was unexpected. He had asked the TARDIS to help him out with his little joke, but he wasn't prepared for what it would do to him. Hearing the TARDIS laugh at him he sees that he is the one who was played. The TARDIS is having much to good a time with her passenger's awkward little mating ritual.

"Oh! Sleeping, yes, you're tired because we did so much work in your mind today. All that needs to settle into its new places. They aren't locked in yet, and the new rooms and doors may not yet be stable. So, while you may not be planning on bad dreams...I sort of was. Well..not planning on you having bad dreams...but you could with bits and pieces maybe leaking out in the night...annnd I didn't want to you to be afraid...so I thought...I should go! You can call if you need me. Right. Going." He shoots up out of the chair, hair sticking up in all directions. He looks so much like a startled hedgehog that Rose drops her book to the floor laughing at him.

"You daft alien! Get your reading and come here. You startled me is all. I wasn't expecting you to be here, but I don't mind if you stay, especially with the threat of leaking bits and pieces." Smirking at his behaviour, while she leans over to retrieve her book, she can't help but think that he's pretty cute when flustered. She doubts this will turn into a regular thing, immediately anyway, she tells herself. Right now though, she's content.

Making the way to 'his' side of the bed, the Doctor sets his reading (more reports from the scanners)down on the night stand. Draping his robe neatly over the bench, he joins her. She peeks at him out of her left eye, and with a smirk goes back to her reading. It only takes a moment for her to be engrossed. The Doctor settles in, propped up on a couple of pillows, and picks up his reports. Glancing over at Rose he sees that she's wrapped up in the story. Her lower lip caught in her teeth, and her right hand twirling a piece of hair as she reads. Watching her for a minute, he tears himself away to work through his own reading.

They share twenty minutes or so this way, before something catches Rose's attention. Looking over, she sees that he's wading through some sort of statistical information, or science-y stuff, idly tapping his lower lip with his pen while reading. Now that she's relaxed and the TARDIS around her is quiet, there's a hum. Glancing again at the Doctor he doesn't seem to notice anything out of place. Listening for the hum again, she follows it; it's in her head. Not to be deterred by that, she turns inward and goes looking for it. Reaching her Foyer, she see's that all the work they did that day seems to be holding fine. She's really quite pleased with herself. Finding this place on her own, and seeing all their work gives her more confidence that she is in control of all these changes after all. Looking around for the hum, she can sense it, but it isn't coming from a doorway. Closing her eyes again, focusing on the hum, and imagining herself brought to it, she opens her eyes to another place. It's dark, and she doesn't see herself; she just is. In front of her is a glowing column of blue fire. It has no heat, and fire isn't really the right word. It isn't solid, but an ever-changing mass of energy. It looks like the roiling surface of a star. The center darker than the surface but alive with movement, and very very blue.

Without thinking she reaches out with her mind and caresses the blue fire. It twines around her enjoying the golden touch. Unexpectedly she's snapped out her mind and is rudely slammed back to reality. Putting a hand to her head against the sudden shift, she looks over and the Doctor is gone. Surprised, Rose sits up straighter, headache forgotten.

"Doctor?" she calls out for him.

A groans issues from the floor, so she crawls across the bed to look over the side. There's the Doctor sprawled on the floor. He must have whacked his head on the nightstand when he fell, because he's rubbing a sizeable red mark on his forehead.

"Are you alright? How'd you fall out of the bed?" Rose is completely confused as to how he got there.

"What in the hell were you doing, Rose Tyler?" Groaning, he pulls himself up to a sitting position against the bed.

It hadn't occurred to her that his being on the floor had anything to do with her. Then remembering what she had been doing just before being snapped back, she blushes.

"That was you," she says softly, sheepishly. Rose hadn't been thinking about what she was doing, she just reacted, and apparently startled the Doctor so hard he fell out of bed. She can barely suppress the giggle at the image of him tumbling over the side. Trying to regain control of herself, and grasping for explanations Rose asks, "Is that what you felt when you still had your people...the hum in the back of your mind?"

"What? Ahhh, yes. The hum. I guess we should have talked about that. It wasn't considered exactly polite to reach out and dig your hands in though." Chuckling at the apologetic expression on her face, the Doctor stands up still rubbing his forehead, but not angry with her.

"No, it's okay. You didn't know what you were doing. That was very...ahhhh...intimate. Yes, my people were all aware of each other's hum. You could get the attention of someone wherever they were by knowing their particular signature, sort of like a phone number. The closer you were to them, the easier the communication, but it was always in the background. Also we regenerate, so that signature would let you know who you were with even if their face was different. It's been empty a very long time, but now you're there." With a smile he taps the side of his skull, and Rose feels a light brush against the tingle in her mind. Eyes wide, she knows that that was the Doctor's 'hello', his mental greeting.

"So that's what the greeting feels like. What did I do?"

She has no inkling what she's asking. She's just curious. The lack of guile, and complete innocent trust moves him to show her, even though he's a bit embarrassed for her. There isn't anyone else around to notice though, and she needs to know so as to not accidentally goose a stranger that may just happen to be telepathic!

Reaching for her with his mind, he easily comes to the place where she was in his mind, in hers. Having much more skill and practice, he can do this without involving his entire consciousness. This means that he's watching Rose as he reaches out and caresses her golden fire with his blue. He gets a little lost in the moment at the beauty of the two energies clasping and twining against each other, but not enough so to miss the gobsmacked look on Rose's face. With a smirk he comes back to the here and now.

From Rose's side of things she's still sitting on the bed gazing expectantly at the Doctor. She feels a little embarrassed that she'd perhaps done something considered wrong, but she's very curious. These are her abilities now, and she wants to understand them. Especially if they have etiquette involved. There are planets where wearing jeans is taboo, she can only imagine that...  She doesn't finish her train of thought as she experiences what she can only describe as the mental equivalent of first base. She had reached in and brain-snogged the Doctor, and he had just returned the favour! Wide-eyed and slack-jawed, Rose Tyler turns beet red.


	4. Theoretical Physics of Cuddling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some tidbits about Rose, and a shared moment.

Theoretical Physics of Cuddling

There was absolutely no spooning with Rose Tyler that night. She was much too embarrassed at her own behaviour even though it was an accident. She started the evening with her back resolutely turned toward the Doctor, but it only took a few minutes before Rose was deeply asleep.

This suited the Doctor just fine. While part of him enjoyed the comfort available in Rose's proximity; he wasn't ready to leap head first down the rabbit hole of full-blown 'couple' status just yet. They were progressing nicely, he thought. He would reconcile his human Rose, with his Time Lady Rose, in time. It was just more than he had ever imagined possible. The Universe was not known for kindness, but he wasn't currently 'mucking things up'. This was nice, catching up on his research and getting to be near Rose.

His research isn't nearly as pleasant; solving this mystery is not proving as easy as he would have hoped. It is certainly interesting, but all the read outs, from all the scanners, keep telling him the same thing in varying degrees of minute detail...Rose is unique. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it worries him. It appears that the only reason the main scanner called her Gallifreyan, is that Gallifreyan DNA is dominant, and she has more of that than anything else. It is the 8% TARDIS energy, (huon energy) that is bound up in her new TNA that worries the Doctor. And it isn't regular huon particles. They are somehow integrated with a different sort of energy referred to frustratingly as...'other'. _Other_! What kind of an answer is that? He's wondering if this may be the Bad Wolf part of Rose. It is completely part of her system whatever it is, and can't be removed. That at least answers one question.

Sighing to himself and pinching the bridge of his nose, he looks over at Rose. He sees she's rolled over and scooted across the bed towards him. She has one arm outstretched, and just the tip of her little pink finger is touching the fabric of his jimjams. Her hair has come out of its loose ponytail, and is strewn across her face. He could fill his night just watching her sleep. With a smile, he turns his gaze away to continue reading. The TARDIS has kindly shifted his light so the throw only extends to his pages.

Shifting through the sheets he goes to the readout dealing with her Gallifreyan physiology. It appears that she has all her necessary parts and pieces: two hearts, respiratory bypass, and the extra brain structures in place to deal with her time-sense and telepathy. They're all functioning optimally. He hasn't had a chance to draw blood yet, but there's plenty of secondary evidence, like the presence of TNA and the fact she regenerated, to support that she must have the Rassilon Imprimatur. The TARDIS said she'd given her the piloting information. Interesting; another driver would be helpful at times. Most recently that bit of real-time flying over a motorway trying to get Donna out of a cab! That would have been much easier if Rose had known what to do, other than... "Hold this, and hang on!"

The realm of possibilities that open up are vast. They could grow another TARDIS, even though it would take awhile...a long while; try a couple hundred years sort of a while. They could dock it with his, and they could visit Rose's family, well she could. He'd have to wait for her on this side. Bloody brilliant! He can't believe that he just imagined that bit of domestics, and gah! visiting Jackie. Pete seemed like a nice bloke, and of course Mickey the Idiot. Well, there will be plenty of time to work toward any of those plans. Snorting to himself at the level of understatement that is, he shifts pages again.

With a murmur, and a slight tensing of surprise on the Doctor's part, Rose has snuggled up against his side. She's curled up with the crown of her head tucked into his shoulder, and her small hand splayed across that shoulder. Her legs are tucked up and pressed against his hip. She looks like a napping kitten.

Gazing at her intently, he's suddenly enveloped in the scent of Rose; her freshly washed hair, a touch of toothpaste, and that undefinable perfume that's all hers. Since her regeneration, that Rose-ness is slightly different, richer. Choosing to be completely immersed in Rose-ness for a moment, he closes his eyes at the intensity of feelings that well up in these stolen seconds of the TARDIS's night. The joy of regaining Rose, the delighted surprise at her declaration of love, the threatened contentment that his forever and hers could match. It was all so much. He surprises himself and snaps back to reality to notice the slow tracks of tears on his face. Gently wiping then away in wonder, he's willing to consider tears of happiness are alright.

Back to his reading, he can sense there are only a couple more hours in Rose's sleep cycle. Her bodily systems appear to be stabilizing nicely. This will be her shortest sleep cycle yet, and he has personal up-to-date evidence that her body temperature has dropped. It isn't quite as low as his, but nearly. Looking at the sheet that has her genetic breakdown, he's wondering about her regenerations. His readings all come from the first moments after her change when she was still buzzing with excess energy, so there's likely to not be the in depth study that he wants. What he gets is still very captivating. It seems that all of Rose's DNA utilized for her exterior features, skin, hair, height, and eyes; comes from the remaining 12% of her human DNA. That would imply that she has the combinations given her through Pete's sperm, and Jackie's egg, but no others. The Time Lord DNA is dominant, but it must have all been reconstructed from the TARDIS matrix, from the TARDIS's own energy as well as that given by the Sphynx. The Doctor now theorizes that the Sphynx's energy is what the 'Other' is, and also what bonded the huon particles with Rose's TNA. Most of the excess burned off in the actual regeneration.

Staring not at the page any longer but gazing steadily into the distance lost in all the equations and theories possible and impossible with this information, the Doctor nearly misses Rose waking up. Luckily, she murmurs his name in her last moments of sleep, and he blinks back to himself.

_Rose is dreaming of her first Doctor's regeneration, but this time she knows what's happening, and while she is concerned for him, it's a traumatic event no matter how biological, she's not afraid of what is about to happen. After the fire recedes, she goes to him immediately. When finished with his physical inventory, he turns to her._

_"Where were we? Oh yes, Rose Tyler." With a smile he takes her hands._

_Looking up into his new brown eyes with her hand_ s in his; her first word to her new new Doctor, is just that, "Doctor."

And with that first and final word, Rose Tyler wakes. She finds herself pressed tightly to the Doctor's side. Stretching lengthwise in the bed and uncurling her neck she looks up into her Doctor's grinning face. With her own answering grin, and feeling spunky this morning, Rose leaps right into the teasing.

"Hhhhhrrrrmmmmmmm...Two days in row, Doctor. This could be habit forming." Tucking her tongue into her now toothier grin, when she sees he's not only smiling, but blushing, too. She knows he hasn't been able to resist that smile since he was leather and wool.

"Rose. You should know that it takes exactly 21 days to form a new habit." He says this cheekily.

"Really, Doctor? So is that a request or a challenge?" Feigning innocence, Rose blinks slowly at him...twice.

Eyes wide, mouth open, and eyebrows buried in hairline, she has caught him out. He keeps thinking he has a handle on his feelings and then she goes and simply tosses everything on its head. How does she do that? Instead of responding though, he prevaricates.

"Rose Tyler! I have spent the entire night going over your lab reports, and I find them woefully incomplete. I hope you don't mind iff...fff..." he stutters to a stop.

Rose, not to be mislead so easily is sitting up now, with a classic I-haven't- gotten-what-I-want-yet...full-blown...lip out...pout. Eyes even wider and a touch darker, he has to tear his gaze away from that lip.

 _/Omega! Is she trying to kill me?!/_ he thinks in surprise, as a wave of desire leaps out of nowhere. Without thinking his body attempts to act for him.

Leaping out of bed, he gets tangled in the covers, and ends up in a very undignified heap on the floor next to the bed. Taking pity on him, she decides not to continue her flirtatious teasing. It's obvious he's affected, but if she overdoes it he might flee, and she really doesn't want to scare him off and have to start over...again.

"It helps if you fold the blanket back first, you silly git!" she says smiling, but staying where she is on the bed.

"So, you need me to go to the Infirmary now, or can it be later? There are very important morning things that must happen first, like tea and toast with loads of marmalade," she says, smiling softly at her Doctor.

Grateful but wary of her subtle diplomacy, the Doctor unwinds himself from the blanket and the floor. Standing up, he carefully lays the offending cover across the foot of the bed. He bends to the floor to retrieve his scattered and rumpled papers giving him a chance to calm his hearts, and regain some composure. Taking a page from his ninth self he would like to insult her species a bit to make himself feel better. Since that's now self-defeating, he picks on her gender instead, but even that doesn't go quite like he wants.

_/Infuriatingly wonderful, terrifyingly magnificent, horribly beautiful...Rose!/_

Growling softly to himself in frustration, he feels under the bed for a couple of the dropped pages. For some reason, he abruptly has a memory of Romana flash across his mind. Sitting back thoughtfully he allows the entire memory to take him.

_Paris, France 1979. That was his fourth self; tall and inordinately proud of that ridiculous scarf. They'd had so much fun running through the streets, seeing the Eiffel Tower, and there was that great little cafe where they made the tastiest bouillabaisse. The entire business with the Louvre , the Time slips, and copies of the Mona Lisa. She was so brave through it all, and so smart-figuring out the hidden room. She had been utterly brilliant keeping that idiot Count occupied while he was traipsing though 16th Century Italy. He'd said she would be superb, and she certainly was._

Rose reminds the Doctor of Romana, at least a little. She has the same deep fearless curiosity, the strength and fiery personality, the ability to keep him on his toes, and keep up with him, but none of the Time Lord arrogance that he'd finally convinced Romana was unnecessary, well mostly convinced...ok, partially convinced. Oh, Romana. He misses her. Up to this point, he has done a passable job of not thinking of her. It had been Romanadvoratrelundar that sent him on his final mission; the one which ended it all, and Rassilon had found out too late to stop them.

Taking a deep breath to banish the memories back into the past, he realises he's still on Rose's floor. Glancing up, he sees she has her head tilted a bit watching at him. He's expecting perhaps irritation or worry to be writ on her features, but it isn't.

"What was her name?" she asks knowingly. Her tone curious, but not demanding.

"Her name was Romana," he says quietly, but with a small smile.

"How did you lose her?" So perceptive his Rose.

"She helped orchestrate the end of the Time War, and stayed to implement the plan." He pauses taking a breath before continuing, "I was on the outside; the focal point. She's gone with the rest of them."

Rose can't believe he's being so candid about the War, but she's actually more interested in what she saw in his face while he was remembering Romana.

"You loved her." She states this simply, as if it can only be true.

"What makes you say that?" he asks, wondering how she came to this conclusion.

"The look on your face," she explains. "She was a person you cared deeply about, and had much respect for, but there was nothing unresolved between you."

"You could tell all that from my face? I should never play poker with you, Rose Tyler," the Doctor teases.

Rose's face is still filled with compassion for him and his grief. It makes him feel small to have joked about it.

"Yes, I loved her at one time."  He starts running his hands through his hair and down his face. Leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes, he allows some of the memories of Romana surface, so he can explain her to Rose. "Well, as much as was possible between us. For most Time Lords it was more a ' _Great Affectionate Respect_ '. Can you hear the capitol letters? All the respectable long-term bits, with none of the passionate short-term bits. Those are the parts that humans are so brilliant with. Romana was special though. She was sent to keep me in line, and then ran away and traveled with me for awhile with my fourth self. We got into some magnificent trouble, and it opened her eyes to the greater Universe. Sometimes observation alone should not be enough. I like to think it made her a better Lady President." Finished with his explanation, the Doctor remains against the wall a moment with a soft sad smile on his face.

Seeing his feelings so plainly on his face is maybe even more of an explanation, than his actual words. Getting up and wrapping herself in her robe, Rose comes around the bed. Holding her hand out for the Doctor.

"Come on, let's go get that tea and marmalade," she says with smile.

Leaving the papers on the floor, he takes her hand. Standing, he sweeps Rose into a hug. Holding her close and resting his chin on her head, he's silently grateful for her understanding of him. It's times like these that he continues to learn to appreciate her. She innately knows what he needs. It had been painful to remember Romana, but it seemed a bit like honoring her memory to tell Rose a little about her, and it felt good to be honest with Rose about how he'd felt. It is yet one more step on his path in this journey with Rose Tyler, and he's determined to take it.

Rose, gladly wraps her arms around the Doctor, pressing her face against his chest and listening to the comforting tattoo of his heartsbeat. Surrounded with his scent, spicy and musky this morning, she thinks on their conversation about Romana. She's curious what made him think of her, but Rose isn't jealous. She's actually delighted in the confession of his feelings. He's capable of having them, therefore he should be capable of expressing them to her. She can tell that he never told Romana that he'd loved her, but she senses that she would have known. In a moment of insight Rose realises that there must be an understanding possible between telepaths that she doesn't grasp yet.

Both of their reveries are broken when Rose's stomach growls, loudly. Sheepishly looking up at the Doctor, she apologizes. Grinning, he releases her, picks up his pages and steps to the door.

"Completely my fault, Rose Tyler. I'll go start water and toast. See you in a mo'!"

And just like that, he's off.

Rolling her eyes, Rose takes a moment to use the bathroom and make her bed. This gives her a little time to replay the past 12 minutes. Very interesting bits and pieces she's learned. Happily, Rose sets off for the kitchen. Today will be a great day, she just knows it!


	5. Shared Cathartic Understandings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and the Doctor learn more about each other.

Shared Cathartic Understandings

They share out tea and toast-marmalade for the Doctor and fig preserves for Rose. They laugh and joke their way through breakfast. This too could become a habit, and they both secretly hope it will. Once the kitchen is set back to rights, they each set off to ready themselves for the day. The Doctor pointing out that it will likely be another long one, so dress comfortably.

Rose finds this intensely amusing as she's getting dressed in sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a hoodie, knowing that the Doctor will be 'dressed comfortably' in his suit.

 _/Silly alien!/_  she thinks her favourite endearment to herself. Stopping mid-stride, Rose rocks back on her heals a moment.

 _/He's not alien anymore... **we're** alien...or not really...we're normal and everyone else is alien! Even my mum!/ _ Rose thinks with sudden and hearts-breaking insight.

Rose needs to sit down a moment at that thought. She hasn't considered this. Well, she has; she knows she needs to start thinking of herself as a Time Lord, but she just hasn't really - _ **grocked**_  it till now. Her mother had told her she would change, that she would become alien, something different, something that even her mum wouldn't recognize. And here she is, apparently back from the dead, back from dying, and 100% alien. She's so happy to be here, but...

Finally reaching a turning point in her understanding that she just hasn't had time for yet, Rose bursts into tears. Throwing herself on her bed, she huddles around one of her pillows, thoughts of what she has warring with those of what she's lost.

* * *

 

The Doctor is waiting in the Library for what he's decided is too long. Setting off in search of Rose, he steps out of the Library and over to her door. Pushing through without thinking, he finds Rose sobbing into her pillow, trying to be quiet. He doesn't know why she's upset...and then again, maybe he can guess. He can tell she didn't intend him to hear her. Striding directly to her bed, the Doctor scoops Rose up and sits back down with her in his lap. Rubbing her back and rocking soothingly, he just holds her through her catharsis. Eventually the large gulping sobs subside, and the weeping slows. Rose realises that she's hanging on to the Doctor as if her life depends on it, face pressed into his shoulder and fists clinched in his coat. Noticing that his shoulder is wet with her tears...and more, Rose is now feeling self-conscious. Feeling her tense up, the Doctor isn't going to give her the chance to be embarrassed.

"Hang on a second," he says, depositing Rose back onto her bed. Getting up, he goes and retrieves a warm wet flannel from the bathroom and a couple of dry ones. Handing these to her, he squeezes her hand, and leaves the room. Grateful for the moment to compose herself; Rose gets cleaned up. Stepping out of the bathroom in a clean shirt and feeling fresher, though still red around the edges, she sees the Doctor leaning against her door also in a fresh shirt but no coat this time. Still not saying anything he holds his hand out for her. Rose looks at his hand a moment, but walks over and slips hers in it. With a comforting smile the Doctor leads her out of the room.

He turns and guides them down a couple of hallways she's never paid any attention to before. They have passed several more junctions, and many, many doors. Rose isn't sure why the Doctor wants this to appear very far away, but she thinks it's just to be impressive. Finally they arrive at a door with an intricate patten inlayed on its surface in what looks like mother of pearl. It's a series of lines and circles in a zig-zag sort of layout. Looking over at the Doctor, Rose sees he has a cat and canary grin on his face.

"You think you're so impressive," Rose teases, smirking at him.

"I am so impressive, Rose Tyler!" Not to be outdone, he steps to the side and opens the door with a flourish. "After you, my Lady."

Rose would have had a sassy reply, but she forgot it upon stepping into the space beyond the doorway. Leaving the Doctor behind, she walks forward so overwhelmed that she can hardly form thoughts to start cataloguing what she's seeing. Walking a few dozen yards she stops to take it all in. The TARDIS is singing to her, augmenting the memory she's standing in with more of the depth that it would have held...if she could have ever stood here...on Gallifrey.

She knows it instantly. The oddly orange sky that lightens to peach directly above where some high wispy clouds are chasing each other across the face of a moon. The huge orange sun, and the smaller brighter one just touching the horizon. To her right is the edge of a grove of dark trunked trees with silver leaves that shimmer and rustle in the breeze sounding like the hum of a million cicadas. Standing at the apex of a hill that slopes away below her, the same breeze that lifts her hair and sussurates through the trees, causes the tall vermillion grass around her to sway and undulate like a vast red ocean. Following the slope of the hills to her left, she can see far in the distance the edge of what might be a sea or ocean, and a range of sharp forbidding mountains, dark sided and shining copper topped as the sun flashes the snow metallic.

A much more subdued Doctor comes up beside Rose, looking off toward the mountains. She is unwilling to break the silence. Taking his hand, they stand like that, both enraptured in the beauty of the memory.

"I haven't been here since before the War began." The Doctor muses, breaking the silence. "I couldn't...I wasn't strong enough."

"It's even more beautiful than I made it in my head from that one time you described it to me, after Utah," she whispers, still engrossed in memorizing the scene.

"Here, let me show you something," the Doctor says with a gleam of excitement in his eyes. Taking Rose's hand he escorts her into the woods. They walk for a few minutes and come to a small glen. There are stone benches around the edge of a patio where they take a seat, and in the center of the space is a fountain unlike anything Rose has ever seen. It's tall, but constantly in motion. Made up of clear glass-like spheres that slide around and through each other as the water slides around and through them. Rose finds she can't watch it for long without getting dizzy. She almost understands what she sees, but that understanding is just out of reach. What really has her rooted to the spot is the music. She would be completely unable to describe how ethereal and alien and beautiful it is. It is like ice and rain, wind through crystals, and the disorienting hollow music from Ben Franklin's armonica she'd once seen in a documentary. It sounds a great deal like the TARDIS herself.

"Sounds like TARDIS singing," Rose blurts out, when she can find speech again.

"Yes it does," says the Doctor with a chuckle. "I had the TARDIS build it for me from my memory of the one that was in my mother's garden back in my Eighth self. The music changes with the quality of light as well. It sounds completely different in full sun, than it does now, in shade."

"But how does it do...what it's doing...the moving through...itself?" Even trying to say it is confusing.

"Time Lord technology mixed with art. It is subtly dimensionally transcendental, like the TARDIS. Each sphere inhabits the same space and no space at all, at the same time. They are in perpetual motion. The water is in and around all the spheres all the time. Its name in Gallifreyan means- The Song of the Spheres. They were a very rare piece of conceptual art. My mother was very zen about it, saying that the answers to all the Universe's questions could be answered by listening to the music in the Spheres. I showed her the math that made it possible when I was 10, but she told me I wasn't asking the right questions." He smiles softly at the memory.

"Thank you. For this. For sharing this piece of your home with me." Rose is abruptly struck by what he has given her. He is about to respond when she stops him, placing her fingertips against his lips.

Dropping her hand and her gaze back to her lap, she explains why he had found her in such a state earlier, "I...I'm afraid to sound silly...you found me grieving the loss of my...well, my _human-ness_. I was teasing you in my head earlier, called you a silly alien." Rose smiles at him apologetically. He waves the apology aside with a smile. "Then I realized that I'm alien now. Then, I thought, no, now we're normal, and everyone else is the alien...including my mum!" she gasps.

Taking a couple of steadying breaths, she continues. "You know, she once told me I would change. That I'd become alien, and she wouldn't be able to recognize me. At the time, she scared me, but it wasn't going to stop me from staying with you. And now here I am 100% alien to everyone... everyone but you." Finally looking up and into his sympathetic gaze she asks, "And how many years Doctor did you live as the only one of your kind? Do you remember when we were on Platform One, and I asked you where you were from? You didn't want to answer me. You hated the answer; hated yourself. Then you named yourself. Thinking of all this," she says with an encompassing sweep of her arm.

Taking both his hands in hers and with slow tears tracking her cheeks, she continues with determination... ""I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of them. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left traveling on my own because there's no-one else." My reply to you then and now, is still, "There's me." You are not alone, now or ever!" she states with a finality she's only now begun to truly feel.

The Doctor is thoroughly speechless. Every superior Time Lord sense he has is locked on one Rose Tyler, fresh Time Lady, and the woman he is utterly and completely besotted with. Before his brain can kick in and stop him, he leans forward and kisses Rose square on the lips. It takes her exactly 2.26 seconds, just long enough for her eyes to flutter shut, and her brain to tell her to respond, and respond she does!

Sighing, she relaxes into him and answers in kind. It doesn't take more than a few more seconds for them to start exploring one another, deepening the kiss. Thankful now for the miracle of respiratory bypass, Rose releases the Doctor's hands intending to bury hers in his hair. Instead instinctually she moves them toward his face, and before either of them notice, Rose's fingertips brush his temples. Without warning Rose slides into the surface of the Doctor's mind. Initially, she nearly drowns in his emotional tide before she learns how to breathe them in without taking them on. She allows his emotions to pass over and through her, but not rest. This way she can observe them, without being crushed by the waves of feeling. Oh, are there feelings, and presently they're all focused on her. Respect, admiration, appreciation, devotion, desire, and love, not the words, but the intensity of all the concepts together as a whole and individually.

One moment she's alone and the next, the Doctor is with her. It takes him a moment to realize she's not frantic and he doesn't have to shield, or save her. He had expected to find her undone, overwhelmed. He had frozen the moment he felt her enter his mind, terrified for her, but here she is shining and...What? What is she doing?...

Either Rose knew instinctively what to do, or perhaps Darling gave her the notion, but outside their minds Rose splits her attention. Taking one of her hands away from the Doctor's face she grasps one of his hands and brings it to her own temple. In a burst of golden light they are now in a place that is neither his nor hers. It is theirs and they've created it.

 _-Rose! How'd you do that?_ \- The Doctor is just a little afraid, but mostly awed. She knows.

 _-I don't know. It just felt right_.- He sees why she felt that way.

_-This wasn't how I expected your lesson on telepathy to go.-_

_-Me, either. Where are we?-_

_-We are in a shared interactive telepathic space.-_

_-Wow, that sounds dry and boring.-_

_-Boring, eh?-_

Taking it as a challenge, the Doctor kisses Rose properly again and this time they're flooded by the shared sensations from both their perspectives. This is a long and thorough kiss made more intense by the emotions accompanying it. The Doctor can't figure out why he  **ever**  previously thought snogging the daylights out of Rose Tyler was a bad idea. Idiot!

 _-Okay, I take it back, not boring!_ \- Rose exclaims and she can feel his mental satisfied smirk.

Exchanging a soft orange mental hug they pull themselves out of the warm golden limbo they'd created.

Coming back to themselves, hands on faces and foreheads together, they grin into each others eyes. They enjoy one more comforting kiss, which is chaste in comparison. Pulling back from the Doctor, but still holding his hand, Rose now senses a tangible connection to the man next to her; a more in depth tingle than was there before. Focusing on it, she can just pick up on his emotions.

Feeling what Rose has noticed, the Doctor lightly caresses the link they have just established. He's pleased to sense her surface emotions are bright and happy, tinged with the orange of contentment, and shades of ...What?

He can almost see their emotions as colors now, overlaying his own perceptions. Well, that will take some getting used to. The Doctor wonders what else he might inherit from his Rose.

"Doctor?" Rose looks over questioningly. "Is this you? It's different from the hum." She sort of reaches in and pokes their fresh link. Both of them wince, and laugh at their expressions.

"Yup! That, Rose Tyler is a direct telepathic link. You're stuck with me, now." He says, grinning cheekily.

"Oh! Is it like what you had with your people, or did we just get married, or something?" She asks this kidding, but seeing his face fall, hurts her hearts. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to remind you...not here...I wasn't thinking. Not very...respectful of me. I guess, I'm not making a very good Time Lady," she finishes, feeling like she's ruined the mood by being so rude.

"No, no, Rose. It's okay. You don't have to apologize for making me remember, and you Lady Rose Tyler, are the best Time Lady there is," he says smilingly, attempting to save the mood. He isn't ready for her to know that this is in fact the initial step toward a full "marriage". Neither of them is ready for that, but he hadn't expected her to link them accidentally-always an adventure with his Rose.

Smiling sadly, and squeezing his hand, she appreciates what he's saying. She's well aware, as they both are, that she is the only Time Lady. Turning toward him again, Rose reaches out grasping his tie and pulls him towards her. Smiling teasingly, she kisses them both happy again. Rose completely forgets about her question in her blissful exploration of their new level of intimacy.

They finally break apart, but stay seated on the bench wrapped or rapt in each other; it's hard to say. The fountain sings to them of a place no longer in this Universe, but certainly not forgotten, and now known by one more. Standing finally, the Doctor helps Rose to her feet and they move away from the sanctuary, back through the trees, and in the direction they'd entered from.

"It's hard to imagine we're still in the TARDIS. This feels so real. Like I should be able to walk a thousand miles that way, and reach the water," Rose muses. Pausing, she notices that the air has scent now, and she thinks she can almost hear bird song in the distance.

"I know," the Doctor agrees. "This specific place didn't actually exist. I made it from memories of several of my favourite spots on Gallifrey." Turning, he begins pointing out the various locations to Rose. "My best friend Koschei and I would roll down this hill when we were little. That grove of trees was near my teacher K'anpo's house in the mountains. You could see those, the Mountains of Solace, and that piece of The Ocean of Bal Soon from the very top of the Tower in the Citadel. And as I showed you, my mother's fountain in her garden behind our House. Having a created space gave me glimpses of my safest places and better times, but now it's all I have. A construct of stolen happy moments, from somewhere that no longer exists."

Coming to a complete stop, Rose tugs at the Doctor, bringing him back to her.

"Doctor, they aren't stolen if they're happy, and here in this situation, Gallifrey does exist," she says insistently eyes shining. "You said the TARDIS can see all of Time and Space. That means that part of her knows exactly what each of these places looks like, because at one Time they did, and in that Time they still do. This may be a copy, but it's a copy that remembers being the original. In a way, it's better, because it's made of your happiest places. Just think Doctor, in a way there's a Time where you and Koschei _are_ rolling down - **that** \- hill, right now, giggling like little boys without a care in the world." Looking off down, the hill she can almost imagine their laughter.

With a look of complete and utter wonder painted across his face, the Doctor can only reflect again, what he ever did without her.

"Rose Tyler, you're amazing. How do you always know exactly what to say?"

"I don't know. I just say what I feel, when I feel like I need to say it!" She says with a grin and a laugh. "The trick is actually getting you to listen."

"Oi! Rose Tyler, I always listen. I don't always pay attention. There's a distinct difference." He says cheekily.

"Oh like the difference between being a git and a prat?" She says with a giggle.

"Oi!"

Making their way to the hallway and closing the door after them. Rose turns placing her palm on the pattern inlaid in the wood.

"Will I be able to come to this room again?" She asks hopefully.

"Of course, any time you want. She'll share it with you now. It was daft of me to keep it hidden," he says rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yes. Daft of you to keep things hidden. You should stop that," she teases him with tongue caught in her mischievous grin.

"Oh, I see what you did there. Cheeky Rose Tyler, cheeky, indeed," he laughs at her.

"Let's go make some tea, I need a snack at least before we actually get any work done today, and it's been 4 hours, 36 minutes, and 12 whole seconds since breakfast."

She's about to bound off for the kitchen when the Doctor pulls her into a fierce embrace and kisses them both breathless again.

"Thank you," he whispers, touching his forehead to hers.

Those two words contain the Universe. Taking the each other's hands they do what they're best at and run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked my Gallifrey Room. Don't we all want one!? :-) Thanks to Ashleigh, my favorite Beta in the multiverse.!


	6. Lessons in Smugness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The TARDIS decides on a little redecorating and Rose receives more than she expects.

Lessons in Smugness

 

Feeling much better after a relaxed lunch of sandwiches in the Kitchen, the pair head off to the Library to keep working on Rose's telepathic skills. She's fairly bouncing off the walls with barely suppressed energy. The Doctor, the one usually so afflicted, is amused at her exuberance. He can see it sparkling around her, and the happy hum in is mind makes him excited, too. Swinging their clasped hands in the air like a pair of seven year-olds they reach the Library...unprepared.

Apparently the TARDIS is having a great deal of fun redecorating. They both come to an abrupt halt in the doorway; not even able to clear the threshold. Before them, the warm and cozy space that had always reminded Rose of what she thought the library in the game Clue should look like: all dark wood, fireplace, comfy chairs-everything worn and well-loved, had been transformed. It was now a high and airy space, filled with light. On one side was an enormous bank of curved windows that extended from the domed ceiling to the floor. They were currently opaqued, with a warm frosted light. The three sides of the room containing books had three floors, with staircases going to each level. All the books housed in clean silver-colored shelving. The furniture was still comfortable, but where the pieces had been dark and somewhat threadbare the new pieces were a mix of bright pattens, subdued velvets, and leather; they all looked oversized and comfortable. They were arrayed on carpeting done in burgundy with many-sized orange circles woven into it. It was very similar to the embroidery on her coverlet, except she felt that this pattern had meaning. The fireplace was now more of a fire-pit centered in the room made from black stone with copper-colored tiles and with a low table built all around it. All in all, it felt more modern, and was gorgeous.

Eyes wide, Rose is drawn to the windows. She didn't notice that had she released the Doctor's hand and is making her way to them alone; the Doctor is still frozen in the doorway.

 _/What are you doing?/_ He asks the TARDIS with barely suppressed angry unease.

**# _living_ #**

With the this terse reply, he feels the TARDIS specifically ignore him, and turn her attention to Rose. He can sense the edge of them communicating through the link.

 _/Are they talking? Like properly...talking?!_ / He thinks incredulously. Shaking his head at the ridiculous thought, he starts toward Rose who has nearly reached the windows. Turning, she looks questioningly at him.

* * *

Rose is slowly walking toward the windows almost mesmerized, drawn to the sifting of the warm light. She needs to see what's on the other side. She knows there's something out there and the opaquing is the TARDIS's way of making it a surprise.

_**~It is a surprise, my Wolf, but I need my Thief to release it. It is for both of you, but he must accept it.~** _

_/What is it?/_ Rose is wondering now, what it could be. But she finally notices that the happiness at the back of her mind has been gone, probably since they hit the doorway and she was too distracted to pay attention. Feeling a little guilty, she now senses the feelings of distress, nervousness, and anger, but mostly sadness coming from her Doctor.

_**~Home.~** _

Turning to watch the Doctor as he trudges forward eyes to the floor, Rose speculates on what he might be feeling. She can gather from what the TARDIS just said that this is more of Gallifrey, but why would Darling be reticent now? She has already seen the Gallifrey Room, what was so different...and then it strikes her-this is an actual place.

Taking the final step to meet her Doctor, she takes his hand in hers and shakes it, encouraging him to look up at her.

"It's someplace familiar isn't it, some where you know?"she asks him gently.

"Oh yes. I know it. I spent years here." An actual smile flirts with his lips as he thinks of all the time he had read in this room, argued in this room, and spent many sleepless nights hating this room.

"Doctor, you don't have to show me this," she says sincerely, mindful of the vulnerability she senses beneath his words. Her compassion gives him strength.

"No. It's alright. I was just surprised. I'm not sure why the TARDIS thinks this is the best place now, but it's as good as any other, I guess." Taking the final steps to the windows with Rose, he lays his hand on the curved silver railing that follows the windows attached to the outward facing struts. "View," he says clearly, and the windows go from opaque to hearts-shatteringly clear.

They are very, very high suspended above a city that is hazy beneath them. Whether it is a trick of the light or the quality of the air, it is clear enough Rose can see all the way past a range of sharp mountains to an ocean. The smaller sun is setting, while the other is high to her right where she can also see a pinkish moon shining in the sky. There's an odd disturbance between here and there, and it takes a moment for Rose to realize the visual discrepancy is the shine from a dome. An enormous glass dome that they are very near the top of, large enough to entirely encase the city. It is awe inspiring.

"Rose Tyler, I give you...well really the TARDIS gives you...the Prydonian Chapter Library in the Citadel of the Time Lords on Gallifrey," he says grandly, with a sweep of his arms to include the room as well as the view. "I spent what felt like centuries of my life here studying to be a Time Lord. Well I say studying, that actually implies I cared enough to listen to all the old windbags. I studied just enough, that they would leave me alone...mostly. Which was really only part of the time...and not really at all. My father didn't like my...approach to learning shall we say."

Sighing he steps closer to Rose, and pulls her into a sideways hug. She gratefully wraps her arms around him and uses him to steady herself, though she feels his need for comfort as well. She is feeling a little like she could fall through the glass, and it would take days for her to reach the bottom. Still looking out the window eagerly devouring the scene, Rose feels how tense he still is.

"Would it be easier for you, if it stayed opaque?" she asks softly, wanting him to know she sympathizes with him, but hoping he says, no.

"No..no it wouldn't. Not now that I know it's there," he says, giving her a little squeeze. "I would stand right here and look out for hours sometimes, wondering why I had to be a Time Lord. It is easy to detest what you take for granted."

With another heavy sigh and a last look at the view, he determinedly turns from the window and leads Rose over to one of the sofas. Nearby, a tea service has popped into existence, and they both relay their thanks to the TARDIS.

Setting his cup down after a sip, he turns to face Rose. In completely unveiled excitement she sets her cup aside, and looks eagerly at the Doctor. She tries to be mindful of his discomfort with the situation, but she's just too keyed up to remain serious for long.

"Are you ready to begin, Rose?" he asks with a smile. Rose's excitement is contagious and he decides to try and focus on that.

"Yep!" she exclaims.

"Alright, what I want you to do, is enter the front of your own thoughts. This is not the Foyer, but before that; where we feel the link. Once you're there I want you to envision your mind as protected. Think of something no one can get past. You want it impregnable," he explains. "I am then going to do my best to knock it down! Let me know when you're ready." He says this last with a smug grin that says he knows how to play this game, and he always wins.

Rose, is not amused. Narrowing her eyes at him, she takes a deep breath. Glancing one more time at that smug little smirk, she closes her eyes with determination.

The Doctor uses the opportunity to look around the room while he waits for Rose. He's still a bit shocked and miffed at the change. He really liked the old Library. It was comfortable, and his...it was cozy. He did have to admit to himself though, that now having been removed from it for so long, this was an impressive space. With its Prydonian colors, the Time Lord seal in the carpeting, even the fire-pit with its Gallifreyan Zinc tiles, the Library managed to be not so much pretentious, as majestic. And he could tell that Rose loved it. Finally relaxing, he chooses to give up the fight. It is an awful lot of demon facing for one day, but he is determined to be better...for Rose.

"I'm ready. Do your worst, Time Lord." She tosses this out with a smirk of her own, and a supreme amount of confidence. Grinning like a fool, the Doctor focuses on Rose, and strides toward her mind fully intent on winning, and quickly. Reaching the front portion of her mind, he stops. He can go no further. He should be able to sense or at least 'see' her shields, but there's nothing there. He slides along the 'barrier' that's keeping him out looking for holes, chinks in the armor, anything that will let him in. He is at this for quite some time, 18 minutes and 26 seconds to be exact, before he notices Rose's growing amusement and smug satisfaction outshining his frustrated indignation at not being able to find a way in.

"Rose! How did you do that?!" he nearly shouts at her as he finally gives up. Leaning back against the arm of the sofa and wiping the perspiration from his brow, he is clearly fuming. That had been a lot of hard work to get no where. He sees that she's leaning against the opposite side, tea cup in hand, gazing mildly back at him; completely unconcerned with his outburst. Infuriating woman!

"That does seem to be your question for the day. Could you not 'knock it down'?" she asks, gently mocking him. Smiling, she sets her cup down, folding her hands in her lap. Her own smirk firmly in place.

Taking a deep breath, the Doctor lets go of the frustration. He has never felt shields like that, like they weren't even there. Something was there because he could't go forward, but he might as well have been on an asteroid, for all the good it did him to find her.

"Right. Would you please tell me what you did? Your shields are, as far as I can tell, perfect. I couldn't find them let alone get past them, and I'm a very strong telepath...certainly the strongest we're likely to meet," he says confidently, but with renewed curiosity.

"There you go thinking you're all impressive again," Rose says, grinning at him.

"I am impressive, Rose Tyler," he says, preening. "In a millennia of Time and Space travel I have met very few truly strong telepaths that weren't my own people. But what you have done is also very impressive. Please tell me. I..well...it would...weeelll...," burying a hand in his hair and rubbing the back of his head, he finally spits out, "yoursarebetterthanmine...annd...Ishoulddoityourway! There, so please?" He said all of it so fast, that Rose has to replay the 'yours are better than mine, and I should do it your way' over a couple of times to make sense of it. Oh this is good. She'll have to save it up to use on him, when he's being insufferable in the future.

Deciding to take pity on him, she begins explaining , "You said to make my shields so no one could get past, impregnable, so I did. I thought of the void ship and how we could see it, but nothing could read its existence, and I thought of the TARDIS which you said the charging hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get in to. Then, I smashed the whole idea together, and locked it up tight!" She's feeling very pleased with herself. She receives a warm proud caress from the TARDIS across her thoughts in agreement.

"You extraordinary creature!" the Doctor enthuses. "Rose Tyler, that is brilliant, utterly fantastic! Void ship, ha! None of that would have ever occurred to me. We were taught a very specific way of shielding. I considered just teaching you the same, but thought I would see what you'd come up with on your own first." Pausing a moment and looking at his hands, he glances back up at her with a slight squint, "I'm ashamed to admit, I was looking forward to flaunting my more superior Time Lord knowledge at you, but here you go and toss it all on its head...again. You, my dear girl, are magnificent!" he finishes with a broad grin. He's so pleased and proud of her that he reaches out, pulls her forward, and kisses her soundly.

"If that's the gold star I get every time I'm magnificent; I will endeavor to be magnificent more often!" she says, a little breathless but grinning. She sits back and reaches for her tea, "So is the shielding all I need to know; I thought there'd be more."

"You want to be able to raise and lower various layers of them at will, but once you have good shields, everything else develops on its own," he explains, taking a sip of his own tea. "You may have certain talents that are stronger than others, like empathy, traveling sight- where you can look at places with your mind, healing, or even telekinesis or foresight. We'll just have to see what happens. Telepathy comes naturally to Time Lords, but you aren't a natural Time Lord." Shrugging, the Doctor watches Rose over his teacup.

She's having an interesting time processing all the available possibilities. All she can think about is mutant X-men, and super powers. She's completely distracted with these thoughts when the Doctor breaks in to her reverie.

"Why don't you practice giving me access through the layers of your shielding. Keep me out of the doors in the balconies, but eventually let me have access to the Foyer where we'll meet up. Okay?" he asks. At some point he wants to see if adding her tricks to his own shields works as well. He's looking forward to seeing if Rose can get past her own ideas.

Nodding, Rose focuses inward one more time, _-Alright, I'm ready_ ,- she sends him, mentally. Remembering a picture of the interior of the Earth from when she was in school, Rose models the layers of her shields from what she saw there—a hard crust, gooey mantel layers, and protected core. She can do this.

Reaching forward with his mind, he comes to the same outer waiting area. Pressing against the invisible shield, it's at first completely unyielding, then it swallows him whole, and he's in another space. This one he can 'see' as a gray fog, but he can't move...either direction.

 _-Rose. Can you hear me_?- he asks, reaching for her. He can't feel himself or see his avatar, but he can communicate, though it sounds like he's in a tin can.

 _-Of course_.- comes the smug reply.

_-I can't seem to move forward or back. I'm stuck.-_

_-Good. That's what I envisioned, In case I need to trap something.-_

_-Interesting. Are you planning something I need to know about?-_

_-Nope! Just being ready.-_

_-Would you please let me through this layer then?_ \- he asks, just a little worried.

 _-Yep!-_  is the instant happy reply.

Now he's in her Foyer, but where he could previously see the balconies with many doors, it's now a walled garden. He can see nothing past the top of the wall, only sky. Rose is also standing there with him, still sporting a cheshire grin.

"Very good, Rose. Can you now let me see the rest of the Foyer?" he asks, sounding just a touch petulant.

"See if you can find it first. I left a 'key'," Rose responds with amusement. She's enjoying keeping him off balance.

"Really? Well, let's see," he murmurs to himself. He always likes a good puzzle. "If I was a key...and Rose Tyler wanted to hide me...where would I be, that she'd know I'd find, but no one else? Hmmm...mmm..mmm." Humming to himself, he walks around the garden, looking for clues. "Why did you leave me a key? It's a good idea, but I want to know what your reason is." A key was actually a great idea. He can think of several times in his past where that would have been helpful.

"If something has happened to me, I want you to be able to get past these shields if I need help. You're the only one I trust." The last part she says quietly, and he can feel she's just a little timid about it. "Well, quite right, too." He's pleased with the sunny mental response this elicits.

The garden walls are stone with vine arbors spaced here and there. Looking closely at the stones he sees that each one has a small carving of something on it. A bear, a cat, moon, an apple... Wait, he knows exactly what she'd pick. He starts looking around for the banana. Only he would know that they are his favoritest of things...clever girl!

"Ha! Found it!" He crows. Near one corner, he finds a little palm tree with a cluster of bananas hanging from it. Placing his fingertips to it, it glows blue and the garden vanishes. They are now in the Foyer proper. He can see all the balconies and their accompanying doors.

"Well done, Doctor! I knew you'd figure it out, and thoughts of bananas will get you past the front shields now as well." Laughing, she claps her hands in delight. Returning her grin, he now notices something that bothers him.

"What did you do with your doors, Rose?" he asks looking around with a worried expression on his face, concerned that it may actually be a sign of instability.

"Hid them. If you want them, you have to think of what you're looking for in circular Gallifreyan, and..."

Rose suddenly pitches forward and would have fallen if the Doctor hadn't caught her. "Rose! Rose?! What's happening?" Her eyes are wide and glazed, her pupils completely blown. Still holding her, he starts to pull them from her mind, trying to be as quick and gentle as possible.

"No! No...," Rose gasps out. Blinking rapidly her knees buckle and the Doctor sets her gently to the floor of her Foyer. Before loosing consciousness she manages, "D..down..download from TARDIS."

Oh! She's reached a trigger to the knowledge that the TARDIS and the Sphynx had left her. That's good, no that's great! He starts thinking of all the things that he and Rose can talk about now, that she wouldn't have comprehended before—TARDIS repairs, navigating temporal fluctuations, all the minutiae of seeing time—Oh! He nearly swoons himself when he thinks of hearing his own language from the lips of another living person. Watching her eyes flicker behind her lids rapidly like she's dreaming a marathon, he can't help but be excited. Of course, he's still unsure about what to make of some of the lab reports, but once this download settles he should be able to get her baseline, and start really working on the mystery of Rose Tyler, Time Lady.

**_~She will need guidance to understand all of what she is now given, my Thief.~_ **

_/What the hell! **What**? My, TARDIS?! What? How? Are you talking to me...TALKING?!_ / He can't believe it. The TARDIS is talking to him, in sentences, proper sentences!

_**~Yes, my Thief. This is how my Wolf and I communicate, and we are here.~** _

_/But how is that possible? You don't even entirely exist in the same dimension as us. That's why our communication is so limited, and mostly confined to pictures and emotions./_  For an instant he is incredibly jealous of this gift Rose has that he cannot share, but lets it go remembering how she'd acquired it.

_**~This is true, but my Wolf was in me, and I in her. We are/were/will be one. Parts of us are always together, always the same.~** _

Well that explained how Rose could understand things about the TARDIS so easily. Oh! How she knew how to take out the picc-line all by herself! And how the rooms always came to her. He had just thought the ol' Girl liked her, but now he can feel that the TARDIS almost thinks of her as a sister, an equal even. Floored, the Doctor is astounded. He has never heard of such a thing. Well to be honest he has never heard of anyone taking in the Vortex and not dying...instantly. Thinking back to something the Sphynx had said, "How long do you think Rose was filled with the Vortex; how long it took her to reach you? Time is not linear. For you, she was only gone a few minutes, an hour? She spent what I would call a moment interacting with the Universe the same way I could." It could have been centuries for Rose. He can have no way of knowing. Well, he supposes, he can ask...

**_~It is irrelevant. We were/was/will be at the task as long as it needs to take. You were saved, my Thief. Much was accomplished and made ready, but saving you was the end goal in that Moment in Time.~_ **

Humbled by the response, of course, he doesn't need to ask. He is currently laying on the ground...with the woman he love's head in his lap...in her head...talking to his even more magnificent Time-ship; who was in here with them. Blimey!

_/Will we 'talk' later? When we aren't here...like this?/ He knows it's a slim hope._

_**~Not until you are bonded.~** _

Yes! Wait...Bonded? He can't pretend he hasn't thought about it. Can't hide his thoughts here, not now, with his ship in communion with him, while they wait on Rose. He had only just worked up the nerve to kiss her; he wasn't ready for that step. And it had to be Rose's decision. Being the male, he could complete it, but he can't initiate the Marriage Bond. He will need to make sure that she understands what all that means exactly.

 _/That wouldn't be so bad, eh Sexy? Would you mind us having some Time-tots running around plastering their jam sticky fingers all over your levers and buttons?/_  he says teasingly, trying out the thought. He's actually pretty proud of himself for thinking it at all.

 _ **~There could be other benefits.~**_  she says slyly.

He has no idea what that means and he's about to question her further, when he feels Rose start to come to.

_**~I have given her all she needs, but that is not the same as comprehending. You will have to guide her. She knows this. Please be gentle. I did not open the Time War to her. It has a separate trigger, that only you or necessary circumstances will release. Do NOT take the gift of my Wolf for granted.~** _

With that final cryptic warning, he feels the TARDIS pull back. Rose blinks and groans her way back to him.

"Doctor? Where are we? Oh, my head. What is it with these headaches. Why does all the most interesting stuff, have to hurt first?" she says in exasperation. Taking her hand away from her face, she sees her head is laying in his lap, and she's still in her Foyer. Looking up at him, his eyes are huge and shining.

"Hello, Rose. My precious, precious girl." The Doctor pulls Rose up into his arms, and clutches her to him. Somewhat confused, she returns the embrace. Thinking furiously back over the past 42 seconds, she realises that she spoke to him in Gallifreyan. At the same instant she knows for certain that he hasn't heard it out loud from anyone but himself since all his people died.

Pulling back from the hug, she looks up at the Doctor's face. Laying a palm against his cheek she whispers, "Let's get out of here." Abruptly, she 'knows' something else new, and tightens her grip on his hand. With an added glint in her eyes, and a touch of steel in her tone she adds, "We need to talk."


	7. Be Careful What You Wish For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A disagreement leads to some disclosure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I borrowed some dialog from Parting of the ways in this chapter which is owned by the BBC and RTD, not me. :-)

**Be Careful What You Ask For**

 

As they exit Rose's mind he wonders if it's somehow part of the female condition having this magical power to shift the mood of a moment so quickly. He's seen it as a Universal trait. Unfortunately for the Doctor, he's the intended target this time around. One moment he's enjoying the gorgeous sounds of his own language falling from Rose's lips, and the next he's deathly certain he's in trouble. Same dulcet tones; completely different outcomes.

Coming back to themselves again, Rose is glaring at the Doctor with arms crossed over her chest. Not sure she can be quite that close to him, she suddenly stands, dizzy a moment, and then starts towards the window. He had better have an amazing excuse.

"Rose? Errmmm...I'm certain I can explain...I'm not sure what you think you know, but it probably wasn't even my fault...and if we could just talk…,"trailing off, the Doctor is completely caught off guard. There's no way for him to know exactly what she may have received in this download. She could have knowledge of all kinds of incidents that she hasn't experienced herself. Gah! Some of the things he's done he's not too proud of. What if this is just the first of many occurrences she's going to judge him on. What if… Rose breaks him out of his self-pitying spiral.

"Jack, Doctor. Tell me what happened to Jack." With her back to him, she stands staring out the window, seeing not the clouds beneath her, or the sky as it darkens toward the short Gallifreyan night, but images from what happened at the Game Station from the TARDIS's perspective running through her mind.

 _/Oh. That. Wait! What else did you give her?/_  he mentally shoots at the TARDIS. _/Ace? Teagan? Adric? SUSAN?! YOU CAN'T SHARE MY ENTIRE LIFE WITH ROSE!/_ the Doctor shouts at Her. He's furious, and about to get really worked up. If everything works out the way he hopes it will, in the secret places of his hearts, Rose will have all this and more once they're Bonded, but not now-not like this.

_**#NO!/her life/her choices#** _

The TARDIS can no longer converse with him, but in their usual manner She shows him what She means. She reassures him (with some exasperation) that She did not share his entirety with Rose, just a fuller perspective (the TARDIS's perspective) of her life, from the moment she chose to go with him, onward. She also helped Rose remember what happened after she merged with the Vortex.

Stepping back from the emotional ledge he'd been toeing, the Doctor's still not comfortable with all the incidentals he may have to wade through in the near future. He's comforted at least that there's only a couple year's worth of potential booby-traps. Taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself down, he attempts to answer Rose.

"Right. Jack. Well, what do you now remember, and what are you really asking?" he asks, hoping she'll clarify.

"I want to know why you left him. You knew he was alive, and we left him. We have to go get him. Oh my god! What if he's still there?" Turning to look at the Doctor with horror writ on her face, he can tell she doesn't know or at least doesn't understand the whole story. Getting up and walking towards her, he comes to stand next to her, looking out at the approaching twilight.

"It is so easy to think it's indeed all there below us. My people; some going home, some coming to work here in the Citadel. Happily going about their lives, and as you pointed out earlier, that may even be true in this moment the TARDIS is sharing with us, but it doesn't make it the truth of the here and now."

"What are you saying, Doctor? Don't change the subject! Answer me! Why?" she demands. She's having none of his usual tactics at dissembling.

"He's not still there," he says with finality. "Now what, exactly, do you see in your new memory? Describe to me precisely the events during the final moments of my life, as you now remember them," he demands in clipped tones, fighting his own anger at her accusations.

Oh. She hadn't thought about regeneration like dying. With a pang of guilt, but stubborn in her resolve to have answers, she recalls the events from when she and the TARDIS returned with Bad Wolf.

"The TARDIS showed me walking out of the TARDIS, and I had all this singing in my head. I knew everything. I knew I could save you, I knew Jack was dead and I could save him, and I knew the Daleks shouldn't be there. So, I decided. The Daleks would be gone-they were, I wanted Jack alive and he was. Then you took the Vortex from me after your cheeky Time Lord pick-up line, and I collapsed. Then the TARDIS showed me that after releasing the Vortex yourself, you brought me inside, and saw Jack on the monitor running for the TARDIS, but even though you knew you were about to regenerate, you left. We could have stayed. You were already in the TARDIS, we didn't have to be in the Vortex. I can't believe we abandoned him there." She has tears on her cheeks by the end. Reliving the memories has the added pitfall of intense emotions. She doesn't have the experience yet to control them.

Turning away from the window the Doctor looks at Rose with such profound sadness, that it takes her breath away. "Rose, can I share the last part of the Game Station with you, from my perspective, my memory? I'll start at the point where the TARDIS left. I think it will make the explanations more understandable than talking about it." With a nod, Rose allows him to take her hand and lead her to their couch. Sitting quite close to her, he reaches up to touch her temple, but Rose stops him, catching his wrist.

"Doctor, I'm confused and hurt about what happened, but it doesn't change how I feel about you." Smiling his understanding at her, but knowing what she does not, he doesn't respond to her yet.

Releasing his wrist, Rose allows him to continue to her temple. Placing his fingers gently there, they are abruptly in his Foyer. It is so completely different from her own, it takes her a moment to see it properly. As best as she can tell, they are in the hub of a huge wheel. A central circular space with so many door-filled passageways leading off of it, that she can't count them all properly. In the center of the hub, is an enormous reflecting pool, but the surface is a blank shining silver; like it's filled with mercury. Above it there's a matching pool of inky black—on the ceiling, if that's what you want to call it. Rose's first thought is that it's looks out to Space, but she almost feels like it's moving, like the silver pool beneath it, and there aren't any stars. The air between the pools is dense, like she should see it writhing. Tearing her eyes away from the pools and looking around, every surface she can see is covered in writing, and now that she understands it, she sees them as bits and pieces of stories. Sentences or stanzas, she's unsure what they represent, poetry, spells...she has no clue. It's so unfamiliar and disconcerting she's having a hard time perceiving directions. If it wasn't for the Doctor holding her hand beside her, she'd be terrified here.

"Umm, this...is different." She tries to sound brave, but the slight crack in her voice gives her away. She is trying really hard to not be afraid, but this is all so-alien, so not-human.

"Don't be afraid Rose. I'm here. I could have shared the experiences with you directly, but I thought it only fair that you saw my Foyer, since I helped build yours." He says this with a smile he hopes is reassuring.

"Doctor, what are the pools?" Her gaze is drawn to them, and she can't seem to look away or right at them, and she really wants to...

"Rose. Ignore them" he says brusquely. "So, Game Station, right?" he asserts, attempting to distract her from the Pools. At her name, Rose snaps back to what the Doctor is saying. Shaking her head to clear it, she's confused, but responds readily enough.

"Yes, the Game Station, your side of the story." She tries to give him a smile, but it's a bit brittle.

Squeezing her hand, the Doctor takes a step forward, and they are instantaneously in front of one of the corridors. Rose feels that they should have moved, but there are no visual clues to say they did. Stopping, she looks over at the Doctor wide-eyed, and visibly trembling. How are they here, when they were...there, but now... Sensing her fear and uncertainty, the Doctor nudges her understanding.

"Rose. How can a TARDIS move Her corridors around?" he asks, a professor seeing if his student has been paying attention.

Rose's first instinctive thought was to say 'How the hell would I know?', but then, like opening a book in her mind, she does know.

"The dimensional bridges respond to your telepathic instructions or the desires of the sentient ship. They do not themselves move, only our perception of their location." Blinking, she's completely amazed that that came out of her own mouth. Who needs A-levels now? The Doctor chuckles at the look on her face.

"See, no reason to be afraid. You have access to the necessary knowledge. You just don't have the practice retrieving it yet," he says, hoping to calm her. "That's how it works in the TARDIS; in my mind e can be anywhere I want us to be in an instant.  Reality doesn't have to work the same way in here.  It's just more comfortable when it does."  Smiling at her, he hopes that helped.

"It isn't just the moving, Doctor. It's everything!" Waving her arm around taking in all of him, she continues, "What is this place? What are those pools? Why are there words all over? It's just so...well, weird."

Rolling his eyes at her,"Well, thank you very much, Rose Tyler. You've noticed I'm weird. It'll get easier, I promise. Still want to see this?" He's hoping she'll say, 'Nope, I'm good. Let's go have chips someplace!', but knows that's unlikely seeing the determined look she's wearing. Narrowing her eyes at him for not answering any of her questions, she just nods. Taking a resigned breath, he thinks of the exact door he wants. "Alright, let's get to the correct door." Taking another step, they are in front of a dark grey metal door with bolts and large hinges. Fittingly, it reminds her of the space station's construction. Incised on its surface are the words Game Station, and its relative date in Gallifreyan, but the words and date are surrounded by an outer ring of gold flames.

Reaching out, Rose pauses looking at the Doctor. "These flames, are they because you regenerated here?" he nods, and taking a steadying breath to ready herself, she lays her palm against the door.

**_She's safe._ **

_Must keep workin'._

_How could the Emperor not know about Bad Wolf?_

_Bad Wolf_

_Bad Wolf_

_What the hell **is**  that all about?_

_Humans_

_Daleks_

_Now we're all dead._

_Jack understands. Good._

_That's good._

_**She's safe.** _

_Fantastic life._

_She'll have a fantastic life._

_Mickey, her mum...I miss 'er already_

_Don't have to watch her die._

_That's good, real good...the best._

_Work faster!_

_Have to make these connections._

_Dammit! Faster, how can they be comin' faster?_

_Fuck me!_

_Could this day get any worse?_

_'Course it can._

_'Ere they come._

_Hate 'em! I. Hate. Them._

_**She's safe.** _

_There're too many._

_Gotta keep workin'!_

_Of course, the bullets don't work. Daft!_

_More dyin'. All I do is kill._

_I kill my friends, kill my enemies, kill my people...shit, kill meself this time._

_Oh god, not down! Why are they goin' down?_

_-screaming-_

_-EXTERMINATE-_

_**She's safe.** _

_HATE. THEM._

_Bombing the Earth...Just great!_

_Well, it won't hurt for long._

_My favorite ape-filled little planet._

_Spent so much time here._

_Now it'll be gone...burnt husk._

_Couldn't help Gallifrey._

_Can't help Earth._

_I kill everythin' I touch._

_**She's safe**._

_One last connection._

_Jack! Keep 'em busy...few more minutes._

_Oh Lynda. I'm sorry._

_**She's safe.** _

_Must finish. Come on, come on!_

_Can't let them win._

_They can't get away from me._

_They. Can. Not!_

_Jack! Jack, no._

_Alone, so tired of being alone._

**_She's safe._ **

_It's Ready! Oh yes!_

_You will all die._

_Shut it! SHUT UP!_

_I am NOT like you._

_I'll do it!_

_I ...WILL... DO... IT!_

_**She's safe.** _

_NO!_

_No...I'm not a Dalek._

_I killed all my own people._

_I will not commit genocide, not again._

_I am the Doctor._

_I. Am. A. Coward._

_I will die._

_Maybe it's time._

_Kill me...KILL ME!_

_**She's safe.** _

_What?_

_TARDIS?_

_NO!_

_Escape?_

_NO!_

_Rose!_

_What have you done?_

_Vortex! Vortex everywhere!_

_How?_

_ROSE—materialising, right here._

_"What have you done?"_

_**~I looked into the TARDIS~** _

_She's glowing, Oh god, she's full of the Vortex! It'll kill 'er!_

_**~And the TARDIS looked into me~** _

_"You looked into the Time Vortex. Rose, no one's meant to see that."_

_No! NO! Don't shoot, not my Rose._

_Holy shit! How'd she do that?_

_**~I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself~** _

_What? Rose the Bad Wolf? How?_

_**~I take the words~** _

_**~I scatter them in Space and Time~** _

_**~A message to lead myself here~** _

_No, no, no!_

_"Rose. You've gotta stop this. You've gotta stop this, now"_

_Oh, I wanted her safe! Now, she's sacrificin' herself for me. I can't let this happen. Not to Rose._

_"You've got the entire Time Vortex runnin' through your head. Your gonna burn!"_

_**~I want you safe~** _

_But..._

_**~My Doctor~** _

_She loves me._

_Omega, I love her!_

_**~Protected from the false god~** _

_Immortal! HA! Please!_

_**~You are tiny~** _

_**~I can see the whole of Time and Space~** _

_**~Every single atom of your existence—and I divide them~** _

_How?_

_**~Everything must come to dust—All things~** _

_Wait!_

**_~Everything dies~_ **

_Omega and all that's Holy...No!_

_**~The Time War ends~** _

_She killed them. Killed them all...for me._

_"Rose you've done it. Now stop. Jus' let it go."_

_**~How can I let this go~** _

_**~I bring life~** _

_Ahhhhhhh! NO! What is that?! Ahhh, not right. Not. Right._

_Wrong...wrong...wrong!_

_"But this is wrong. You can't control life and death."_

_**~But I can~** _

_I have to stop her._

_How? How can I stop her without killing her?_

_NO! Not my Rose. If the Universe has a shred of compassion left, don't make me kill her._

_**~The Sun and the Moon~** _

_**~The Day and the Night~** _

_~...but why do they hurt~_

_"The power's gonna kill ya and it's all my fault."_

_**~I can see everything~** _

_What does she mean, everything?_

_**~All there is~** _

_**~All there was~** _

_**~All there ever could be~** _

_She understands...she knows!_

_"That's what I see all the time. Doesn't it drive ya mad?"_

_**~My head~** _

_I have to save her._

_"Come 'ere."_

_I'll pull it out of her I'm a Time Lord. The Vortex can have me._

_**~It's killin' me~** _

_Maybe not, but It will kill me._

_"I think you need a Doctor."_

_If this is my one and only chance to kiss Rose Tyler before I die...so be it. There are worse ways to go._

_Oh! It burns!_

_There ya go ol' Girl, take it back..take it all back._

_You and my pink and yellow human._

_My precious Rose, my love. You both saved me again._

_Sorry I can't stay, already feel it changin' things._

_Must get Rose to the Infirmary._

_Hopefully I have enough time._

_Oh! The Wrong Thing. It's moving._

_What the hell is that?_

_Gotta get Rose inside._

_Oh no, Jack! It's you!_

_Rose's final gift—life._

_Far too much life._

_I'm sorry Jack, so sorry._

_Must leave this place._

_Oh! She's wakin' up already. Fantastic!_

_Guess that's best._

_Wakin' up to a whole new me, would be worse than watchin'!_

_Heh! Look at that, wormsign._

_There's the fire...not long now._

_It's going to frighten Rose._

_Be funny, keep it light, don't scare her._

_Ohhhhh! God, it hurts. Doesn't feel right. Must be the Vortex._

_Properly scared her now, you git!_

_Hold on! Hold on!_

_Gotta warn her._

_Oh! She doesn't want me to go. Maybe she loves this daft old face a little._

_So much I never said, never did._

_Never thought my time would be so short...typical._

_Didn't care before Rose._

_Hope my next self doesn't make the same mistake._

_"Before I go, I just want to tell you; you were fantastic!"_

_I love you_

_"Absolutely fantastic."_

_I...Love...You_

_"And you know what? So was I."_

_There! She smiled...goodbye_

_I will love her_

_I will love_

_I will_

_ROOOOOSSSSEEEE_

Experiencing the actual fires of regeneration is more than she can stand on top of everything else. With a plaintive cry from Rose, the Doctor draws them both free of his memory. Seeing them still in his Foyer, Rose shakes her head, gesturing with her hands that she wants all the way out. Now worried that he may have gone too far, the Doctor gently slides them from his mind.

Back in the Library, Rose throws herself from the sofa, falling to her knees retching. A basin appears next to her though there isn't anything for it to catch. The Doctor leaps to her side, pulling her hair out of the way, and rubbing her back. Trying to comfort her through the emotional backlash of such a traumatic experience. He should have thought about how difficult it would be for her. Dry-heaving done, Rose throws herself into the Doctor's arms. Luckily he's already next to another chair, so he catches her, and lets her grieve.

He had forgotten how razor sharp all his feeling were as his previous self. All black and white, with no shades of grey to hide doubt in. He had felt everything with so much more clarity...anger, sadness, despair, loss, fear, but also joy, freedom, delight, inspiration, and love. Between the poet, the War, and the ears it was as if losing his people had burned all the guile out of him but added steel, and truth. He had been so unwilling to lie. He would rather keep his mouth shut, than lie.

Not this time. This time he hid in words, lots and lots of words, and he is starting to lie again. He isn't comfortable with this realisation, and Rose will hate it. Rose. She is not going to let this experience lie. It is fairly pregnant with topics for her to pounce on. They could have thousands of years together; starting them off in deceit is a recipe for disaster. Silently, he resolves to answer Rose's inevitable questions with as much sincerity as possible. He was committed to her before the Game Station, and obviously the whole ordeal with the Sphynx is a testament to that commitment. How awful will surrendering to a lifetime with Rose Tyler be?

Yes...exactly.

Emerging from his inner criticisms, he comforts Rose through her crisis with more empathy. "Oh, Rose. I'm so sorry. I didn't realise it would be so hard for you. I shouldn't have stayed. We didn't need to see the whole thing." Rocking her through her sobbing, he feels guilty for hurting her. All he can do is hope she'll forgive him.

After another few minutes, the crying slows, the sobbing over. Pulling several hankies out of a pocket, he offers them to her.

"I'm sorry, Rose. Really I am."

"S'okay. I wanted to know."

"I know, but I shouldn't have scared you like that. Made you see all that violence, and death, and..."

Interrupting him, "Doctor! You daft man." she laughs a little damply at him. He seriously thinks she's crying for herself, idiot. Sitting up, so she can look him in the eyes, she explains herself, "I am not a child in need of protection. I'm not upset at you. Sure it was horrible, but I'm upset because while we were in there, I  **was**  you. Maybe you didn't notice because it's your memory. We didn't watch it happen, like it was on the telly, we were there. I know everything you thought, everything you heard, saw, said, and  **-felt.** "

She can't help but blush at the deep truth of his regard for her. His final thoughts literally were his love for her. She really doesn't know how to feel about that right now. It is so much more than she had ever thought possible, but exactly what she longed for. It will just have to wait till later, but there will be a later. For now, she has a worried Time Lord to comfort.

Thinking back to the experience, "I know how sore your fingers were from having to work so fast on all the connections. I know how the room smelled after the Daleks had killed everyone. I know how Jack felt, wrong. I know how you felt when you decided to sacrifice yourself for me and the rest of humanity. I know how frightened you were...of them...of me. I know how much you loathed the Daleks, and yet even so, you couldn't commit genocide; not again." Turning, so she can see his face, Rose takes ones of his hands. She runs her fingers over it picturing the golden flames that costumed her first Doctor.

"So, I did it for you. They were't meant to be there, so I took them away. They'd already died. I couldn't save the people they'd perverted, but maybe that little part that was still human, knew peace. The Dalek part, I only put back in hell." She can see by his face that her words have struck him, and not all of them in a good way. Rose knows he won't like her acceptance of that responsibility so blithely. But Daleks are evil! How is the Universe not a better place without them?

"Rose, I..." stopping he tries to collect himself. She can't know...well...maybe she can. Like she said, she'd been there. Could she know what it had meant to him, to not kill the Daleks, to finally acknowledge himself, the Doctor. He'd just been done, done with everything-done with all the killing. Looking back on it, it was not the right decision; that time. He would have slaughtered billions of people, if not for the Bad Wolf and Rose. But he'd been finished with it all, and knew that he wouldn't have to live to see the consequences. No TARDIS to save him this time. It isn't what he'd wanted, but when offered the choice, he'd decided to not utterly destroy the Daleks. Though hate-filled and completely useless, they were still living creatures, and he couldn't end them. Not that it obviously mattered. They were like cockroaches. When you finally decide your done, and do your best to wipe them all out...oh no...there's always more hiding somewhere. It's so unfair that none of his people have survived, but he still keeps coming up against more Daleks! It's infuriating.

Not waiting for him to continue, Rose leaps right in. She needs him to know how she feels.

"Doctor. I forgive you. I forgive you for sending me away. I forgive you for deciding to die. I forgive you for running from Jack. I also forgive you for doing what you felt you had to do, to Gallifrey and the Daleks, and this time at the Game Station. When faced with extermination again you couldn't do it to them, no matter how much they deserved it. You make those hard decisions Doctor, but you're not alone any longer. You can't always save me, sometimes you have to let me save you." Taking his other hand during this she really wants him to feel her sincerity; her deep commitment to him and this crazy life they lead.

"Rose Tyler." He doesn't have anything else to say in that moment. He fills her name with such admiration and awe. He can't possibly deserve her, yet here she sits; doing her best to comfort him...two years after the fact. He thought he was down here on the floor for her. Instead, she's still fixing him, making him better. Showing him new and different ways to see the same Universe she's only experienced a fraction of. He's not feeling particularly Superior Time Lord anything at the moment.

Smiling at how he says her name, Rose decides to change the subject, "I don't know about you Doctor, but I need a shower, and then how about we go some place for chips? Watch a movie with me later? Something fun...Galaxy Quest?" she offers. She has so much to process, that Rose is really hoping a little of their version of normal will help her feel more grounded, more secure. Currently, she's feeling a little out of control.

"Chips and Galaxy Quest? Why Rose Tyler that sounds like a date! You go get washed up, and I'll find us a chippy!" Bounding up, and pulling her to her feet, he hugs her tight before bee-lining for the door. With a happy wave he heads to the Console Room. He's so capricious, but his excitement makes her smile. He's like a puppy on a sugar-high. She thinks it might be the most adorable thing ever.

* * *

Heading to her shower, she continues thinking about the Doctor's memory. The running commentary makes her smile; it had been strange, but was definitely enlightening. She really wants to indulge in remembering his feelings for her even in the midst of such a crisis, but the previous couple of hour's worth of drama is all because of their leaving Jack, so she focuses on him instead. She'll save the Doctor's feelings for later.

Examining the sensations concerning Jack, she feels what threw the Doctor off. Jack was itchy in the memory. Itchy and heavy, and repulsive, like he had his own gravity or like two magnets trying to be pushed together, but what was that all about? He hadn't felt that way before. Maybe it was just because he'd woken up from being dead; like the excess energy from regeneration.

_**~No, my Wolf, that is not why.~** _

/ _Okay Darling, why? Why does he feel that way? What did I do?/_  Rose asks, knowing it's her fault, but she's confused as to what she could have done. She knows what she did, but not how.

**_~I am sorry my Wolf, but you created something that should not exist. Jack is now a fixed point in Time. Bad Wolf pulled all the lives of all the parallel Jacks there ever were, and gave them to yours. He is the only one, and he will not die for a very, very long Time.~_ **

_/What?! Oh my god! I didn't mean to. He must hate me!/_  she exclaims.

Filled with horror and self-loathing now, Rose bursts into tears in the shower. Even the steady pounding of hot water washing away her tears does not comfort her. Selfish! She had just wanted to help; she loved Jack like the big brother she never had. What had she done? She now knows exactly what a fixed point in time is, and how neither the TARDIS, the Doctor, or probably her can hardly stand to be near one. It is a failsafe. It is the same feeling that the Doctor had upon sensing Jack's creation. But this is Jack. They all love Jack, even the TARDIS. Rose knows he flirted with the ship, and she didn't seem to mind.

_/Can't we get used to it? At least try for Jack?/_

_**~I too am fond of him. I would try if my Thief can find a way~** _

_/Oh thank you Darling! I have to see him. I have to apologise. I need to explain./_

Darling knows that convincing her Thief is going to take a lot more effort than convincing herself. Being raised a Time Lord, he has an innate sense for these sorts of things that makes it very difficult and even painful to change. Her Wolf is still effervescent with her newness, and is willing to rewrite her perceptions. She knows that the Lover is part of their upcoming futures, but she'll let them figure it out. It is always much more interesting that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter. I wanted to describe the end of Parting of the Ways without just copying the episode. After watching the end through, I realised I was making a running commentary, and it flew from there. {good-bye Nine, we still miss you.} I sure hope it works as well for you as it does for me! :-) Cheers


	8. Holiday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for some fun.

**8 Holiday**

Rose and the Doctor spent several months learning their new normal. They haven't spoken about the day he took her through his memory. They know there are issues to work on, though both mutually (though independently) decided the issues could wait. There's plenty of time, and the Doctor isn't one to start those sorts of conversations. He's content to let it rest, knowing Rose will bring it up when she's ready. They visit planets, space stations, moons, and even once a passing cruise ship, all safe at the moments in which they arrive. That didn't mean there weren't problems to solve, and one puppy to rescue from a well, but mostly they were on Holiday. The TARDIS is uninterested in putting her companions in danger just yet. Ignoring several alarming situations, that will just have to wait, she allows the Doctor to get where he's going, and he's choosing for fun, not function.

Barcelona and the nose-less dogs were a remarkable success, though he had to put his foot down about no puppies on the TARDIS. The spa planet Autopia gave Rose a lovely tan, and the Doctor an unfortunate rash while investigating a native jelly fish he'd been warned about, but Rose stepping out of the beach house wearing scraps of blue fabric (is that supposed to be bathing suit) distracted him from the one he was a little too close to. Rose tried to be sympathetic, but the terribly itchy bright green dots were too much, and she could hardly look at him without dissolving into fits of giggles. It took three days for them to get better, no matter what the Doctor did. The TARDIS finally took pity on him, and synthesised a topical antihistamine that made his life at least bearable. Then there was way too much shopping, and some fantastic dinners on San Helios. He even found some parts for the TARDIS, so he wasn't too put out. They just lazed their way through a couple of galaxies, enjoying themselves. All these places kept them both busy and allowed them to settle back into a routine with each other.

Finally, as the last Holiday trip; he is taking Rose to the 26th Century city, Chelsea 426 above the swirling clouds of Saturn. He thought she might enjoy the wonders available in her own familiar corner of the Cosmos. He let the TARDIS choose when in the Century they landed, his only specification that there be a restaurant perhaps with dancing, thinking he might indulge Rose's love of it. Checking the monitor one last time and noticing that the 26th Century is a busy place around this City with all kinds of complicated incidents going on earlier in its span. Well, every place always has a few boring days, and the TARDIS is steering right to the heart of section towards the end of the Century. Satisfied with his surprise, he turns away, stuffs his hands in his pockets, and with a grin at his clever plan, heads off to find Rose.

He can sense she's deep in thought and probably reading. He can almost hear her wheels turning.  She must be in the Library. She's been very studious recently, falling head over heals in love with Temporal Physics and Stellar Engineering. Of all things, it would never have of occurred to him that she would be a budding engineer! Koschei would have been amused with the irony.  **He**  couldn't even hardly understand all the stuff she was currently excited about. This morning's breakfast conversation was all about Omega and Rassilon working on plans to bring Time-travel to Gallifrey. While charmed at her delight with his own history, there is much to cover. Some of that same history is going to generate questions that he isn't looking forward to answering.

She has a real talent for wading through an author's pompous self-indulgent prattle and distilling the actual meat from the rubbish. He'd always felt so repressed when trying to push his way through. She just ignores the parts that hold no actual information. Luckily she doesn't have anyone testing her just as much on so-and-so's opinion, as on the real material. She also doesn't have the weight of millions of years of expectations to toil through. The Doctor envies her fresh perspective. Maybe he should try...nah!

Reaching the Library he pauses in the doorway to watch her. Recently, She'd had the TARDIS make her a desk built into the window. She's unreservedly enamoured of the view. He's come in before to see her just watching the clouds. Other times she has her work screens displayed across a portion of it while she's figuring out some equation or other, and a stack of books to her left.

One time, he nearly got a concussion when she startled him under the Console and he smacked his head into the edge of the frame. She had come running in screaming for him to come to the Library, before sprinting back the way she'd come. The TARDIS assured him nothing was wrong. Making certain he  _wasn't_  bleeding, he joined her in the room. Walking to the windows he was about to start complaining when he caught sight of what held her rapt attention. Below them was an enormous flock of birds twisting and cavorting in unison looking for all the world like a school of bright blue fish. The TARDIS had not previously given them anything in the view that moved beyond atmospheric structures and astronomical features. It had been centuries since he laid on the grass watching these birds twist and turn in the air. The imagined birds made him sad, but they were harmless. Rose on the other hand was glued to the display with tears rolling gently down her cheeks. Through the link he could feel her sadness at knowing they weren't real, mixed with utter joy at their beauty. Understanding both sentiments he didn't have the heart to take it away, and resolved to have a talk with the TARDIS about the realism of this construct. Taking her in his arms they stayed like that watching the long dead avians frolic in the pretend air currents.

Today she's curled up in a chair next to the fire reading the oh-so-interesting treatise on Singularity Manipulation by one Marnelavandortorvalon. Blech! She's still awfully cute, dressed in blue lounge pants and thick purple sweater, no matter what she's reading. He's positive the pretentious prig that wrote the book would have been scandalised if he could see her now. Grinning, the Doctor makes his way over to Rose's chair.

"Some light reading this evening, I see?" Perching on the arm of her chair and pulling out his brainy specs, he makes of show of looking over Rose's shoulder to see what she's reading.

"You goof. It's actually fascinating once you get past all the posturing," Rose says with a smile, looking up at the Doctor. "I can't believe how much tree pulp your people wasted blithering on about how they learned what from who, how they proposed such-and-such, and so-and-so's approved...blah, blah, blah!" Laughingly she pokes him in the side,"obviously the running off at the gob trait was genetically instilled into your race!"

"Oi! I do not 'run off at the gob'," he protests. "And it's now your race too! I will have you know that everything I say is  **vastly**  important! Such as...we didn't use tree pulp. It's masticated grass fibre, dissolved in the guts of trillions of specialised bacteria who pooped out pulp that was turned into strands and woven into the finest paper in the Galaxy."

Pleased with the reaction he continues, "Also  **vastly**  important...Rose Tyler, would you like to go out on a proper date with me tonight...dressed up and everything?" He is thoroughly amused to watch her face go from a pinched moue of disgust to a delighted grin. Yup! Still got it.

Dropping the book to the floor, Rose reaches up grabbing his tie, and topples her Time Lord from his perch directly into her lap. He's skinny, she's stronger than she looks, and neither of them cares a whit as Rose rewards her Doctor with a breath stealing snog for having such a wonderful idea. There have been loads of wonderful ideas lately, and Rose feels that she may have finally made up for one snog-free year, no more than that, but definitely at least one of the Pete's World ones. Still have four more to work off though; two in the TARDIS and two more without.

Respiratory bypass or not, they both need to surface for air at some point. Pulling back from Rose, the Doctor is glassy-eyed and adorably disheveled. Yep, she's got it! Rose is tempted to keep him here. Well, to be fair she's  _always_  tempted to keep him here, but they have mutually (for real this time) agreed that there isn't any reason to rush things. They have gone through a great many disparate though similarly traumatic incidents, and taking some time to learn and trust, and just know each other is altogether worth it; so long as the snogging continues.

The Doctor is being so much more open with her. Of course their link helps, and as her physiology settles, she is picking up all sorts of new and particularly useful features both psychic and physical. Such as, she can tell when the Doctor is lying; his aura turns puce at the edges, like a bruise. That's new too, seeing auras around every living thing. She has fine tuned it, so that she can ignore them, but when she wanted to see, the aura will show as a coloured outline. Also, and maybe her favourite so far, is the telekinesis. She can't move much yet, just roll a pencil off her desk, but oh the possibilities! Of course, not to be outdone, the Doctor has also gained from their link. He is now starting to see hazy colours in emotions and auras, too. Her's apparently turns a sick greenish-yellow when she lies. She'd attempted to hide that she had in fact eaten the last of the strawberry jam. He'd crowed with delight when he discovered his new little talent, much to her chagrin.

Physically, she is also much faster and stronger than she had been. She always liked the running during an adventure, but now it's so much fun she runs through the halls of the TARDIS each day. Darling will shift up the dimensional bridges while she's on the move to test her reflexes. The Doctor thought he'd join her on one of these sessions, and collided with a wall resulting in the use of the dermal regenerator when he missed a sudden unexpected left. Afterwards, he decided that running for their lives was good enough for him.

Just the other day she had finally given in and allowed him to perform the full set of scans as a baseline. There didn't really appear to be anything too unusual, but he liked to pore over them researching this or that weird piece of biology. It made him happy, and now when he started jabbering on about nucleotides, polymerases, mutations, and gene sequences, she could return the favour with event horizon characteristics, space-time geometries, or the peculiarities of wormhole dynamics. She could tell, he wasn't exactly satisfied with her scan results, but she was stable, and as he liked to say...that was brilliant!

Gazing into the warm chocolate gaze, she sighs in happiness. Pulling him close for one last quick kiss, she then dumps him unceremoniously on his back side as she stands and stretches, back popping and enjoying a magnificent yawn.

"Oi! Whaddya do that for?" The Doctor whinges from the floor. Laying back on his elbows, and crossing his ankles, he smiles up at Rose's movements. She thinks he looks a little like a cat being all nonchalant...'of course I fell, I meant to.'

"I can't exactly get dressed with you in my lap, you prawn. You said dressed up, so dinner...and maybe dancing? Will there be dancing, Doctor?" Rose lets out the cutest squee, and claps her hands at the thought. It's moments like these where the early 20's shows through, and the Doctor loves it.

"Well, I don't know, Rose Tyler, but maybe," he replies with a grin of his own he watches her shout in delight and head for the door.

Stopping in its frame, Rose looks back at her man-critter sprawled on the floor, eyebrow raised haughtily. "You have two hours Mister to meet me in the Console Room, and you had better  **not**  be in that suit!" With that, she flounces out of the room wholly unimpressed with the whining and cursing her parting shot has elicited. He hears her fading laughter as she heads off to her room.

Two hours! What is he going to do for two whole hours? And change his suit, what's wrong with his suit? He loves his suit. He especially likes today's tie. The TARDIS has made him a lovely deep mahogany one with swirls of pale blue and dark navy. He loves ties, and he really loves his suit. Now he has to go dress up, and this was his idea! Grrr...women. Sighing to himself, he can't help grinning. Rose's delight is so palpable and infectious. She will look marvellous, and the least he could do is dress up for her, too. Oh, he knows exactly what to wear! He has just introduced her to Daniel Craig as James Bond, and she had  _loved_  his tuxedo in Casino Royale. The appreciative noises she'd made were proof enough of her thoughts on that regard. He'd considered being jealous, until she'd told him how he would make the handsomest Bond ever. The Doctor is almost positive there'll be a similar one upstairs in the Wardrobe waiting for him. He's glad she approved of that Bond, she hadn't been so keen on Terk'lon the Terrellian Bond from the 45th Century remake of From Venus with Love. Her idea of James Bond didn't involve him being blue or tentacled. Human sensibilities, so limiting!

Making his way to the Wardrobe, he can hear Rose singing in the shower. She has a lovely voice, and he always enjoys the moments he can catch her using it. After pausing a moment listening to her belt out a portion of Take Me Too the River Annie Lennox style, he continues on his mission to find the perfect tux. He doesn't seem to have great luck with tuxes, but he knows Rose is going to like this one, and he's determined to have one last easy fun night with her. He's aware that the TARDIS has been keeping them safe, and that will need to end soon. He knows there's issues that require tending to. Soon he and Rose will be saving someone from something, but tonight is just for them. Taking the stairs three at a time, he goes digging for the perfect Bond-ish tux.

* * *

Once finished with her shower, Rose takes her time getting ready. She's given herself two hours, and she is going to use them. Darling has outdone herself laying out oils, scents, creams, and all sorts of strange unguents that she thinks Rose might like. They talk about what to use where or for what purpose, and then Rose gets down to business. She has felt the growing undercurrent of tension in the TARDIS, and knows that soon they'll need to get back to work, but She's giving them at least one more trip to finish off their Holiday.

_/Thank you so much, Darling for letting us have this time./_

**_~You are welcome. I have enjoyed seeing you happy. I hope you like the dress I made for tonight.~_ **

_/Oh! I'm sure I will! I know we have to get back to work soon; I've felt the anticipation of trouble./_

**_~You are very perceptive my Wolf. I have kept the trouble to a minimum, but there are matters that need tending. You are ready, and I think my Thief needs an adventure.~_ **

Sending waves of affection and laughter, they both enjoy the process of getting Rose ready. In recent weeks Rose has come to use less and less make-up. Her new skin is too sensitive even for the super high-tech future stuff which still seems heavy and smells weird. Brand-new and blemish-free, Rose can't stand the feel of covering her skin. She still does her eyes, though using much less mascara. Noticing that Darling has laid out a selection of warm browns and golds for her eye-shadow, makes Rose is curious to see her dress. Being evening she paints her lids dark and smokey making her eyes glow and look molten.

Her mum would have a fit, thinking that you  _must_  to put all this goop on, or you aren't made up proper. She'd probably go on about airs and graces, too. Reading up on being a Time Lady, would imply airs and graces, but that just isn't Rose. Thinking of her mum, Rose hopes she's happy. She remembers the Sphynx saying she'd see her soon, so she holds that notion close, and doesn't grieve. With a large sigh Rose pulls her thoughts back to the present. Finished with her make-up, she plays with her hair. It has become long, she loves the colour and natural wave of it. Brushing it out till it looks like spun gold, she opts to leave it mostly down. Pulling a portion of the front up, and braiding the sides back she clips it all from behind with a golden barrette in the shape of a feather. It was a gift she had received from Jack after finally escaping that truly awful experience on Arkannis Major with he and her first Doctor.

Rose has been thinking about Jack a lot lately. She hasn't brought up any of her thoughts on wanting to see him again to the Doctor, but she will soon. She has been researching what they could do make him more palatable. Well, at least to be around. She isn't interested in how he tastes. Grinning to herself she hopes her theories work. If they do, even Darling should be able to accept him, without being constantly bothered. Checking herself in the vanity one last time, she bounces out to her room, excited to see what delightful confection the TARDIS has made her.

Walking out of her en suite in nothing but black lingerie, she rushes to the bed to see a shimmering silken oddly-coloured frock all laid out with shoes, and a black bigger-on-the-inside handbag. Slipping the dress over her head, it falls in liquid glory across her skin. Seeing it has no closures, Rose turns to the mirror. Stepping forward, the shifting watery colours of the dress confuse Rose; it's like it can't decide what colour it wants to be. It's pretty, she likes the soft fluttery sleeves, but it's kind of shapele-...Oh! As she watches, the heat from her body must activate something in the cloth as it warms against her skin. The dress shortens to just past her knees and hugs her curves like grown for her, but the skirt stays softly full; perfect for dancing. The hem turns black and as she watches, the colour creeps up the dress. At the tops of her thighs it starts blending to gold, and upon reaching her shoulders has shifted completely to a deep rich topaz; complimenting her hair and makeup beautifully.

Staring open mouthed at the mirror, she's amazed at the transformation. Turning, she looks at the shoes, wondering if they are just as amazing. At first glance they look like a clear flat with ribbons for her calves, she steps into them. Wrapping the ribbons around her calves and tying them off, she turns to walk back to the mirror. As she steps closer the shoe moulds to her foot and adds a shaped built up heel. She feels like she's in her most comfortable slippers, and instead she's wearing dead sexy heels. These are spectacular! They look amazing and she can even run in them. So clever.

/ _Darling! You've outdone yourself. This is the prettiest dress I've ever worn, and the shoes!/_

**_~You are very welcome.~_ **

Pleased with Herself the TARDIS sets about landing them near the location the Doctor requested. She has arranged everything to make certain they have a marvellous time. Tonight should be perfectly safe; then back to saving the Universe.

* * *

Feeling quite smug at finding exactly the tuxedo he'd wanted, the Doctor not so patiently awaits Rose in the Console Room. Being ready first, he'd become bored. He tried the Library, but was too keyed up to read. He wandered around the corridors whistling to himself, but couldn't find anything entertaining there, all the usual rooms and storage lockers, were where they usually are—boring. The TARDIS directed him to his room at one point, and it took getting him trapped in a corner, before he noticed she meant for him to go in. There on his nightstand was a gold pocket square and a box. He recognised the box. It was a present he'd bought for Rose on San Helios while he'd been scouting for parts. Apparently the TARDIS thought this was the appropriate time. Silly meddling machine! Fingering the square, he notices it's murr-cloth. Really?

_/What have you been up to, Ol' Girl? I haven't seen murr-cloth in ages./_

Getting the distinct impression that he is just going to have to find out for himself, he slips the box into his bigger-on-the-inside pocket, tucks the square into his upper tux pocket, and heads back out to see if Rose is ready. He loves surprises, well the kind he's responsible for, not the caught in danger you're about to die variety, but the Ooo, I have a prezzie for you variety. Yup, present wielding surprises are the best!

Now pacing the grating, about to give up and insert himself under the console, the TARDIS arrives at their destination and lands. She comes to a surprisingly gentle stop, with barely a thump. Well that is impressive. Either she's showing off, or this location was just really easy to slip into. He votes for the latter. Trooping down the ramp, he opens the door to peer out and see what's about. They're tucked into an alleyway, next to a bustling thoroughfare filled with brightly dressed laughing people. There's the thump of music, and he can smell the distinct odour of humanity having a good time, with a small dose of alien tossed in. Happy—it's a good smell overall, even if mixed with sweat and enough pheromones to excite a boulder.

Closing the door, he's now determined to go find Rose, and drag her out half dressed or not. Oh, half dressed, that could be fun, not the out on the town fun he was planning, but the stay in snuggle and snog sort of fun. Although half dressed is halfway to...Right, focus. They've mutually agreed to take it easy, but that doesn't mean that the insidious thought of shagging Rose Tyler doesn't creep in at the most inopportune moments.

Turning to head back up the ramp, the Doctor comes to a full stop. He'd been too wrapped up in his own inner monologue to hear Rose enter the room, or feel her amusement at him through their link. Now, all thoughts are completely stilled. There is a total vacuum in his mind; all his designs evaporating at the image of the goddess in front of him. His hearts stutter back to life, and the burning in his chest reminds him to breath again.

"Rose! Blimey, you look gorgeous!" the Doctor blurts out. He ought to be more eloquent, but the golden vision in front of him, has him nearly speechless.

Pleased with his reaction, and very pleased that he's changed for her, she glides down the ramp towards him. Fixing his tie, just to have something to do with her hands as she leans in for a short, but passionate kiss. Stepping back she openly leers at him. "See, I knew you'd be the handsomest Bond ever." Seeing the matching pocket square, she touches it and then her dress. "What is this made of Doctor? It's the same as my dress, and it sort of shaped itself, right on my body?"

Shaking his head to clear it, he uses the explanation to try and retrieve his wits, and maybe a touch of control over himself. Following her back up the ramp to retrieve her bag, he begins, "Ah-hem...It's murr-cloth."

Going over to the monitor he pulls up the image of a small system with several planets and enlarges the image of a little greenish planet fourth out from the sun. "The murr were a very peaceful farming culture out on the other side of the galaxy. They discovered a tiny telepathic creature, barely more than an amoeba on their world, that lived in colonies and reacted to temperature, moods, and the thoughts around it. Some clever individual figured out how to grow it into cloth that could remake itself into whatever the wearer wants, and to condition it to impress itself to only one person. The once peaceful farming culture is now a hub for the elite fashionistas of the Galaxy. It's a small obscenely rich little system, with a wait of as much as a decade for an appointment to see a specialist that will grow the clothing only you will ever be able to wear."

Turning away from the monitor and back to Rose with a mischievous glint in his eye, "That dress will only ever fit you, and will fashion itself at your whim. Look at you, Rose Tyler...the envy of all around you, and you could've likely bought a moon with it." The Doctor teases Rose.

Eyes wide at this she asks, "You mean it's alive; the dress is alive? It's living on me...right now?" She can't decide if she should be impressed or creeped out.

"Well, not  _on_  on you. It takes its nutrients from the air around you, and maybe a little from your bodily oils, but not much, and nothing you'll miss," he finishes with a grin.

Choosing impressed, Rose thinks this might be the coolest piece of clothing she's ever owned. She'll have to play with it later. Rose grins at the Doctor-airs and graces...ha!

Grinning back at her, the Doctor slides a hand into a pocket preparing to offer Rose his arm, and show her a night on the town, when he encounters the box he'd slipped in earlier. Looking up at her excitedly,"Rose! I have a present for you!"

"Oh, I love presents,"she says. Taking a step forward, then she stops abruptly and gives him the Eyebrow of Doom. "This isn't another one of those presents that no one wants to get is it?"

"Now Rose, that was an honest mistake. How was I supposed to know the egg still had a live draconeet in it? At that time of year, they should have all been hatched," he whinges back at her. Other than the slimy little baby lizard/snail that had defecated all over Rose's hand, it had been a good day. Those eggs are highly prized and made completely out of opal. Attempting to placate her though, "No, no, this is one I know you'll like, and no smelly residue!"

"Oi! Cheeky Doctor. Smelly residue? It took me the rest of the day to get that stench off my hands,"she huffs as she swats him lightly on the shoulder

Laughing now at the memory, she takes another step forward. The Doctor removes the box that's about the size of her palm from his pocket, and gives it to her. Opening it, she sees laying on the cream satin inside is a necklace and earring set. It is composed of beaten gold circles in various diameters connecting in and through themselves. There's green, pink, yellow, and even black gold circles all linked. The earrings dangle just long enough to touch her shoulders and they are perfect. After helping her put the necklace on she turns back and rewards him with another sound snogging and her thanks, "I love them. Thank you!"

"They're even more beautiful on you, than I thought they'd be." With a gasp and a shine to her eyes, the Doctor realises blushingly that he said that out loud. "Right, Rose Tyler. Let's go paint this town red." Then with a head shake, an affected American accent, and a deeper tone to his voice he sing-songs, "Ain't nobody party, like Time Lords party!" Giggling at themselves they head out of the TARDIS and off for a night to remember.


	9. Jack in the Box

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where we meet a much younger Time Agent and his partner who has a completely different agenda.

**9 Jack in the Box**

The Doctor escorts Rose out of the alley and into the adjacent bustling area where she sees that they're in a space station or ship of some sort. A large structure that's all metal and enclosed with an artificial atmosphere, but this area is obviously designed for the social life. It's ceiling is higher, and there are shops, cafe's and vendors everywhere. No vehicles, but she can see some in the distance. Leading Rose to a lift at the corner of one of the buildings, they pile in with quite a few other people. They are the last entering, and the last to press a button; taking them to the top floor. They are the only ones headed that far up, and receive a few interesting looks from the working class looking inhabitants who must not venture that high on a regular basis. As the car rises, it deposits its cargo through the strata of the structure. Rose isn't sure yet what sort of vessel they're in, but it's huge. They are alone for the last six floors, and just before the bell tones their arrival, the Doctor releases Rose's hand and her mouth, as he has her cover her eyes.

Doing so with a giggle, she's vibrating with anticipation and determination not to peek. At the tone, the doors swish open and the Doctor gently guides Rose from the car by her elbow. He murmurs to someone, and then lightly tugs her forward a couple more steps. Intrigued, she steps forward dropping her hands, still keeping her eyes closed. She takes a moment to 'feel' the space around them. The rustle of fabrics, the tinkle of utensils on dishes, the low murmur of voices matched by the hum of non-telepaths. Oh wait, what's that? There are a couple of Sensitives. The Doctor had taught her about Sensitives when she'd embarrassingly projected a filthy comment to him, apparently wide-band, while they were on the cruise ship. He promised her that anyone able would have only received the general intent of her projection, but she'd been mortified, and refused to leave the TARDIS for a couple days. They have since worked on her sending skills as well as her shielding, but she still blushes at the unfortunate memory. Pulling her shields up tighter, she ignores them completely. Sniffing the air, she knows that they're in a seafood restaurant, and the cuisine smells divine.

"Alright Rose. You can look now," the Doctor whispers in her ear. She can hear the anticipatory smile in his voice, and through their link she feels excitement and a little awe. Opening her eyes and blinking a little at the initial brightness, she stiffens as her vision swims into focus. She's a mere handrail away from the window and what has her so astonished is what's on the other side. The lower portion of what she sees is filmy buffs and blues, browns and pale pink clouds. Above that and bisecting her view of deep dark space is a wide swathe of brilliant white, grey, and silver. Rings! They're rings around a planet, and she's in a ship or something floating in the clouds below them. Completely incapable of speech for the moment, she reaches for the Doctor's hand. Taking it, he steps up to her side.

With a wave of his arm he states grandly, "Welcome, Rose Tyler to Saturn's floating city of Chelsea 426, in the year 2593. It never gets old Rose, no matter how many times you see it...it never gets old."

She's still awestruck, but pushes gratitude and amazement at him, with perhaps a hint of hunger as her stomach growls, breaking their reverie. Looking at the Doctor with a grin, "Saturn! You brought me to Saturn. It's my favourite of my own planets, you know. I love the rings, and look at them. Right there, almost like I could reach out and touch them." Leaning toward the window, so she can look down at the planet proper, all she can see is the wispy strands of cloud, and various ships moving in their lanes around the city. A city...an entire city floating in the cloud tops of Saturn. This was already starting out to be a great night.

Thoroughly delighted with her response, the Doctor allows the maÎtre'd seat them. He wonders if Rose picked up on the Sensitives in the room. He thinks she might have, but doesn't really want to draw attention to them in case she hasn't. He smirks to himself at the memory of the incident on the cruise ship, but as he finishes mentally scanning the room his expression grows more serious. Something doesn't feel quite right, but it could be almost anything. There isn't a specific thing that feels so wrong he needs to act, just an undercurrent of tension. Could just be a busy night, or maybe they're out of Venusian crabs. He hopes not, they're sooo tasty! But the impression of burgeoning anticipation, keeps a part of him wary.

Moving to their table, the Doctor watches how Rose is turning heads. Feeling protective, and maybe a tad possessive, he moves his arm to her waist. She does look magnificent. He'll have to remember to thank the TARDIS later for the dress...and for the table next to the window. Ahh, the two most important women in his life-he's the luckiest guy in the Universe. Looking at the menu, he's decides to order several things and they'll try them all. It's much more fun that way. Taking Rose's hand they attempt to pick what to eat.

* * *

On the other side of the room, two men are seated and appear to be chatting. The slim sandy-haired one is expressing himself with his hands, while his friend looks on amused, but keeps checking something on his wrist. They seem very focused, and tense, maybe waiting for another member of their party. They're acting like they're enjoying themselves, but something about them seems off.

"Wow! Would you check out the chocolate and vanilla that just walked in." This is said by the slimmer of the two men. The darker haired and more muscular of the pair looks up from his wrist computer and glances over.

"You'd have be stone dead not to notice those two! They're awfully chummy, must be...'in love'," he says this with derision tinged amusement. Rolling his eyes the other man continues watching the couple.

After some time, the first man notices something weird about them, and he can't seem to stop watching.

"Hey, scan that couple, I think they're telepaths."

"Telepaths, they look human. There aren't any telepathic humans in the 26th Century."

"Idiot. Maybe their not from here, either. Scan them," Slim demands, starting to get annoyed.

Not caring for his partner's tone, but curious despite himself, Muscles discreetly aims his wrist towards the table. He can't be too precise without being obvious, and they're undercover for a reason. He can't believe they're wasting time in...Hold up...What the hell?

"Get up. We're going." Muscles slaps his wrist-comp shut, and moves to stand.

"What. We're here on purpose, and I.."

"Stop talking. We are leaving," Muscles interrupts him, not caring about his confusion at the moment.

Leaving the restaurant brusquely, with his partner trailing behind cursing softly under his breath, the tall muscular man barely remembers to wave his wrist at the payment receptacle on his way out.

The Doctor and Rose are stopped mid-sentence in her story by a strange sensation. Rose looks around and then back at the Doctor. He has a slightly unfocused look on his face and a crease in his brow, like he's looking for something.

"What was that Doctor? It suddenly felt tight in here then like the floor moved, but that's impossible and no one else seems to have noticed." Confusion is evident in her voice and her expression.

"That Rose, was a shift in the timelines. I can't see anything amiss amongst the timelines here clearly enough. There are too many potentials, but some of them just winked out."

"Is it dangerous? Do we need to leave, or stay, or whatever?" She might be trying out the runability of these shoes after all.

"I don't know. Whatever caused the shift isn't in the area now, so maybe it's nothing. Let's stick to our original plans. I'm having too much fun to worry about another stuck puppy." Raising his glass he toasts his lovely date. Laughing and starting up again about Barcelona, Rose continues her story. The Doctor on the other hand, while paying attention to her has also broadened his senses, and no longer feels the Sensitives in the room. Interesting.

* * *

Stalking after his infuriating partner, Slim can't get him to talk until they're in the lift heading down.

"Now are you going to tell me what the hell is going on? Were they famous people or something, fixed points, what?"

"Worse. They're Time Lords."

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up! Time Lords don't exist. There is no way that th..."

Shoving his computer into Slim's angry face, Muscles presses a button.

The screen reads: Probability—Time Lord 98.9864%.

"I shit you not. Once we made them, they would have known, so we had to leave."

"Holy shit! Are we going to tell the Agency, or do you want to bring them in? There might be a hefty reward for showing up with real live fairy tales."

"I think your fairy tale just grew up, and we are leaving them...alone."

"What?!" There's an angry glint in Slim's eyes.

"Alone, and that's final." They stare at each other a moment before Slim backs down.

"So what are we going to do about our contact?"

"I'm rescheduling," he says, tapping at his wrist comp. "Telling them our position was compromised, and moving the meeting point to that club we saw last night. Let's go."

Slim follows along, but he's not happy. Time Lords. What's he not being told? All he knows is that they'd disappeared, just like the Daleks. Good riddance. He didn't really care. He isn't sure what he's going to do about it, but if an opportunity arises, he may just have to take it.

* * *

"Oh Doctor, the dinner was divine, well except for the Venusian crabs. Those are disgusting," Rose says scrunching her face up as they walk.

"Rose Tyler, how can you disparage the fruit of the Goddess of Love? The nectar from Venus herself. There are very few things tastier than Venusian crabs. You're taste buds must be still developing," he says with a superior expression and taunting smile.

"Few things tastier than Venusian crabs is it? Tastier things like...say, pears? I would love some pears right, now. Juicy, sweet, crunchy..." Rose is having a hard time staying upright, she's giggling so hard.

"Gahhhhhh! Rose Marion Tyler stop it; right now. I will leave you here if you bring one single solitary pear anywhere near the TARDIS! NOT. A. ONE!" The look on the Doctor's face is priceless.

Laughing as they walk arm in arm along the lane in the shopping district, Rose is having a great time teasing the Doctor. It's sooooo easy! He doesn't need to know that she thinks pears are gross, too. This is much more entertaining. This has been the best date of her life.

Catching sight of a club and the thumping sound of music,"Oh, look! Let's go there. You did promise me dancing, Doctor." Rose looks up at him through her lashes.

"I distinctly remember saying maybe, only maybe..." She bats her lashes at him. "Oh alright! Let's go dancing. How can I deny you when you're having some strange eyelid seizure."

"Oi!" Smacking him in the shoulder, they come to the entrance, where apparently there's a line.

"Place must be popular," Rose says, impressed with the number of people standing around.

"Well, I have the remedy for that!" Pulling out the psychic paper the Doctor stands up straight striding forward, and hands the man at the door the wallet. Rose mirroring his posture, puts on an affected and bored 'I'm too good for this place' expression. Taking the wallet the man reads it, stares at it, glances wide-eyed back at them, and hurriedly pulls the rope, letting them inside. Taking the wallet from the Doctor, Rose reads: His Honorable Lordship Devon Glenn, Secretary of Defense, Mars Colony.

"Well, aren't you flash." With matching mischievous grins they push their way inside.

* * *

Outside, Muscles has his back to the entrance scanning the area. Slim on the other hand sees the Time Lords enter the very same club they are trying to get into. Well, when opportunity knocks... Looking over at Muscles, he needs to figure out how to get them in before their contact arrives. Orrrr...maybe he could slip away and get in quiet all by himself. He doesn't really care about the Rutans. There shouldn't be any of them left here this late in the Century anyway--his partner can deal with them.

There's something his partner isn't telling him about these Time Lords. They look rather harmless. Hell, one of them is a girl! He wonders how valuable they'll be to the Agency. Maybe he'll get promoted. Then he can have a different partner. One that's a little more...open minded...a little more available for the black market side business they could be running. Ancient artifacts in pristine condition...ammaaaaazing! With a twisted smirk, he ducks behind the crowd near the door, and slips in passed the doorman while a hugely fat Zalcorian is arguing to get in.

"Where the hell is that Rutan?" Muscles whines out loud. Looking around, he can't see his partner. Checking his display, he looks up just as Slim slips behind a Zalcorian who's gesticulating wildly at the door.

"What the hell is he playing at?" Muscles mutters to himself. Taking out a small black wallet, and his uniform cap, he steps out of line and walks straight up to the door. Flashing his ID at the doorman, he gets waved in with a look of exasperation. Checking what it says—Bob Miller-Bar Security.

Well, that explains that. He didn't like using the psychic paper. Sometimes it backfired. Luckily this time, it worked perfectly.

Thankfully he's tall, so he's able to flirt his way through the crowd without too many problems and still have a good view. Finally reaching the bar proper, he tries to look around for Slim.

Why does that bastard always have to make everything more difficult? When they get back to headquarters he's going to ask to be transferred. They were supposed to be meeting up with a Rutan, who allegedly had a lead on some weapons trafficking in 40th Century guns somehow making their way out here. Not good. Not good at all. Now, instead of doing his job, he's chasing his idiot partner around. Oh, there he is! Just catching sight of his coat as he heads upstairs, Muscles pushes his way through the milling intoxicated horde till he reaches the same stairs. Taking them two at a time, he comes out on the second floor, which is much quieter, and set up for dancing. There's a secondary bar, but none of the socialising thats happening downstairs. Even if he wasn't trying to catch up with his errant partner, this would be a welcoming respite. Looking around he unfortunately does not see his errant partner.

* * *

Finally making it upstairs to the dance lounge, Rose is ready for a drink...or six. That took almost too much work. They're both enormously thankful for telepathy at this point. It was their only method of communicating all the way from the door to here. The Doctor situates them at a table near the back, and heads off to the bar, to get them a drink. Rose is hoping it's something strong. She's still working on controlling her metabolic rate, and she would really like to have a buzz right now. A little relaxation after forcing their way through that crowd would be welcoming, then dancing!

While she waits for the Doctor, Rose is looking happily around the room. These patrons are much more subdued. The music is more melodic and less crash bang, perfect for dancing. Her current Doctor is an excellent dancer, and much less reticent to do it with her than her first. Thinking back to that first night, she remembers getting him to dance with her first in that Hospital for a moment just before Jack teleported them, and then properly on the TARDIS later. He was so happy that day. "Everybody lives, Rose!" Sometimes she really misses him—that him, and Jack. That was when they first met...

 _/What the hell?! That guy looks just like Jack!/_  Rose thinks to herself incredulously as she looks toward the bar in the corner.

********

Making his way to the bar, the Doctor is glad that he remembered the psychic credit card. Ordering two drinks: A gold coloured one with unknown contents, but it has a pretty picture and it matches Rose's dress, and his: a frothy banana concoction guaranteed to please (so says the bartender). Of course it will...there's bananas. Pleased with himself, he starts to make his way back toward their table. He's looking forward to resting a moment. Maybe he'll let the alcohol take the edge of his nerves for a bit before metabolising it. Forcing his way through that crowd downstairs was  **not**  his favourite thing. Too much touching, and way too much noise. Having Rose in his head making snarky comments was the only thing that kept him moving forward instead of grabbing her hand and sprinting back to the solitude of the TARDIS. Finally catching sight of Rose, he's about to reach out and get her attention, when he sees her face and senses her mental tension. Not knowing what's wrong, he picks up his pace.

_-Rose! What is it?-_

_-Jack, it's Jack. He's here, but it isn't our Jack. He's too young. At least he looks just like Jack!-_

Harkness. Hmmm... That could be problematic. If he's too young, then he's still a Time Agent. So is this before, during, or after the missing two years. He's not sure he wants to find out.  He'd really been enjoying having Rose all to himself.

Almost to Rose, the Doctor is about to ask her something else, when he feels a sharp sting on the back of his neck. Looking to his left he sees someone duck around a wall. Setting Rose's drink down on a convenient table, he reaches up and feels his neck. Pulling his hand away, he stares at the spot of blood. Setting the other drink down, just as the world starts to swim, he hears Rose frantically calling to him in his head just a some bloke catches him under the arm.

_-Doctor!-_

**_-DOCTOR!-_ **

"Here mate, let me help you,"the man says solicitously.

"I don't think you're here to help me," are the last words he gets out before his world goes dark.

Standing up on her chair and looking frantically everywhere for her Doctor, Rose thinks she might just have seen his coat. It had looked like he was being helped out of the bar...like he was drunk, but that isn't possible; he was on his way back from the bar. Not thinking of her personal safety, she stumbles when turning on the chair to get down, and starts to fall. Before she can even register that she's no longer standing, she's caught. Looking up into the handsome face, she knows exactly who catches her.

"Hello, gorgeous," the handsome man with the gorgeous blue eyes flirts.

"Jack!" Rose blurts out.

"What?" His facing scrunching up in a look of confusion.

"Oh, sorry. You look like someone I know. Look, put me down! I have to go, some bloke just kidnapped my friend!" Setting Rose back on her feet, she steps away from him.

"Whoa, whoa. Hold on sister. What do you mean kidnapped?" Muscles has a really bad feeling as he asks.

"I don't have time for this!" Turning she starts to make her way to the door and the stairs. She has to find the Doctor.  _/There's no way that was voluntary. What if he's been shot or drugged. Focus. Get out of this place, so you can see where they've gone,/_ she thinks as she's winding her way through the patrons.

Muscles realises that this is the blonde he saw earlier at the restaurant, the Time Lady, and she just said her mate has been kidnapped. Dammit! He knows exactly who's behind this. That stupid, stupid bastard. He has no idea the world of hurt he could be in. Lucky dumb-ass took the right half though. If he'd taken the girl first, that Time Lord would have dismantled this entire city to get to her. Maybe, he can reach them first and free her Time Lord before he wakes up; then maybe, just maybe, they could make it off this space heap alive.  **Dammit**! Going as fast as he can, he has to catch up with this Time Lady and his soon to be ex-partner, before all hell breaks loose and people start dying.


	10. Jumpin' Jack Flash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor is taken and the Sontarrans are coming.

**Jumpin' Jack Flash**

Coming down the stairs, Rose tries to look out over the mass of churning bodies below; it's impossible. It's too dark, and there's just too much movement for her to see the Doctor, let alone his assailant. Standing on the stairs where she can see out over the crowd and attempting to shut out all the movement and noise, Rose 'reaches' for the Doctor. She can just barely feel him, but only the -oh look a Time Lord- hum.  _/He must be unconscious,/_  is the only reason Rose can come up with.

Flailing around for him mentally isn't going to help until he regains consciousness...if that's all that's wrong with him. Refusing to think that way, Rose pulls back to herself. She feels the "not Jack" come up behind her. He's a Sensitive, and she recognises his…"taste". She can feel the slow-reaching slightly sticky quality of his proto-telepathy. Almost like his mind is reaching for something it thinks it wants, but can't exactly figure out how; much like a toddler. The Doctor had explained that Sensitives can pick up on emotions and sometimes images, but that all they really have is super-intuition.

Before "not Jack" can touch her or ask her any stupid questions, Rose rounds on him.

"This is because of you, isn't it? You were at the restaurant tonight. You and your  _friend._  This can't be a coincidence." She isn't sure what she can do to him, in a dress designed for dancing and a handbag, but she'll think of something; maybe her shoe. Taking one step higher towards him, he actually backs off, hands in the air.

"Look lady, I think my ' _partner_ ' may be involved, but trust me; we were not here for you or your mate." He says the word 'partner' with a generous coating of disgust, but this does nothing to assuage Rose's growing fear and fury; an unfortunate and potent combination. Narrowing her gold glinting eyes at him, and pointing, he winces...like she's about to incinerate him on the spot, and she enjoys it.

"You, mister are going to make this right. I don't know or care what we have to do, but  **You. Are. Helping. Me!** Now get us outside." She bellows the end of her demand so loud there's a hiccup in the activity downstairs. Nodding at Rose, as he passes her on the steps, hands still in the air, he moves out into the crowd making a path for her. She follows close behind.

Finally reaching the entrance to the club, Rose pushes past "not Jack" out into the now cooler lane in front of the establishment. Looking to either side frantically, she hopes to catch some glimpse of anything that's out of place or just wrong, or if chance is on her side the Doctor and his kidnapper. There's nothing. The people still queued up waiting to get into the club barely glance at them before they go back to their mundane conversations. They certainly aren't acting like anything stranger than them has exited the club. Although a friend helping his drunk buddy out to the street, wouldn't look strange.

Rose doesn't know what to do. If this guy had actually been Jack, she wouldn't have to start from square one, but he doesn't know her at all, and she can tell that only the barest essentials of her Jack are in there. This "not Jack" is much darker, his aura muddy with lots of burnt red and brown in it. He's also suppressing his rage at the moment, but he's still afraid of her. She can see it in flashing green strands through his aura, along with the subtle glimpses of what she thinks must be the core of her Jack, a soft pure red, like the colour of strawberries, valentines, and love. But he's been hurt a lot, this "not Jack". So despite her desperate longing to find the Doctor and get the hell out of this place, she feels sympathy for him. Pushing it aside, Rose needs to find the Doctor. The sooner the better. She will worry about the "not Jack" later.

Coming up beside her, "not Jack" is careful not to touch her, knowing it's the height of rude in her culture. He's been told Time Lords can be extremely dangerous; that they're nearly Gods, and can manipulate Time and Space when provoked. He always thought that was complete bullshit, but like his partner, he thought the existence of Time Lords at all was complete BS. Something the Time Agency used as bogeymen. If you threw anything too out of whack a Time Lord would come along fix the stupid thing you did and erase you, or worse; drag you back to their CIA- Celestial Intervention Agency and no one comes back from them. As if the Time Lords only allowed the Time Agency to exist on their sufferance. No one he knew had ever seen a Time Lord, or their cloaked TARDIS ships. So after a while, he'd assumed they were either extinct, or had only ever truly existed in Galactic folklore, passed down from species to species.

When his computer had pinged with a near perfect probability of Time Lord, everything he knew was tossed right out that big pretty window. If Time Lords were true...then all the rest could be true. Not good...no, most definitely not good. Maybe the female one is young and underdeveloped, because she certainly isn't acting dangerous, or like she can bend space-time to her will, although he's pretty sure her eyes glowed golden in the club. To tell the truth, she looks upset, and worried. His limited telepathic sense is still telling him he should be careful, something about her can be scary, but that for the most part she is—upset, afraid, and very worried. He can also sense that she finds him familiar. He knows he's never met her before. He'd have remembered; she  _is_  gorgeous! She must know him from his future. He will just have to be careful, and not ask her too much. He doesn't want to know anything that will damage the timelines, get him deported, or worse.

Rose turns her baleful eye on "not Jack". She isn't sure what to do with him either, but he's willing to help, and it's  _his_  partner that has got them into this mess. It's hard not to instantly trust him; he's her Jack under all of that after all, but here and now...not completely.

"Okay, so I guess I'm going to have to trust you, and I don't exactly like it. Let's go." She starts off at a trot in the general direction of the TARDIS. She's hoping Darling can help track the Doctor's bio-signature, or anything else that might lead her to him. Too bad she doesn't have any weapons. Rose kind of wants one right now, but that's just her mad talking and she knows it. "What's your name?" she asks once she sees he's following along. She can at least try to be polite. Maybe she can get a better feel for him on the way.

"What did you call me in the club?"

"Jack."

"Jack works."

"Is that your name?"

"No, but I don't think I want any Time Lords having my name." There's that thread of fear again. So Jack Harkness was an alias. She can't remember if she knew that or not...not that it mattered. He's Jack as far as she's concerned. He calls her a Time Lord with much emphasis. Interesting. Maybe that can be useful.

"Okay,  _Jack_ ," she replies.

"And yours? Is your name as lovely as you are?" Rolling her eyes, she's relieved that he's still such a flirt. That familiarity helps her feel more grounded. Even so, she isn't sure she wants him to have her name either.

"Wolf. You can call me Wolf."

"Is that your name?"

"Nope!" She smiles grimly at popping her 'p' Doctor style. She will find him, and nothing and no one in this city will stop her.

* * *

The fabric of Reality tightens again. Something isn't right here, and is trying to fix itself; making room for the changes. This causes ripples of temporal seismic activity to expand in ever widening circles heading out past the end of Sol system, and into the greater Universe. Very, very far away something shifts lazily, before returning to it's slumber.

* * *

"So where are we going, Wolf?" Jack asks. He's been assuming she has a way to find her mate that's better than his, but he's been stopping periodically to check his wrist-comp, and has just trotted up to Rose as she continues jogging along. She had paused at one point looking around worriedly, but then kept going.

"We're going back to my ship. I should be able to trace the Doctor's bio-signature from there, and figure out what that nutter partner of yours did with him."

"The  _Doctor_ , is your mate?" He tries to keep the uncertainty from his tone, and thinks he's only successful because of Wolf's distraction. God  **DAMMIT**! Of all the Time Lords that stupid bastard has to grab, he grabs the Doctor. This is just getting better and better. First Time Lords, and therefore everything attached to them goes from being myth to fact in the time it took his comp to go 'ding'- And now, the most infamous of all of them, followed a quick second by the Master (really these people's names!) has just been trussed up like a holiday goose and carted off by  _HIS_  partner! If the Doctor or Wolf doesn't kill him—he definitely will!

Rose doesn't hear Jack's trepidation. She's very focused on trying to figure out where to start. She has all kinds of options if they can locate the maniac that took him, but until they do they're looking for that needle in a haystack. She really needs to catch a break.

"Ya, we've been mates for years. It's his ship were heading towards." Stopping dead, Jack reaches for Wolf's arm turning her toward him. The blast of golden anger and fear from her, has him clutching his head. Right. Don't touch a Time Lord. Got it.

"Ow, Sorry! Your ship," he gasps out. "You said we're going there so you can look for his bio-signature? I can trace my partner through this." Continuing to rub his head, he points his wrist-comp at Wolf and sees her expression which started off stormy, brighten.

She isn't feeling too sympathetic at the moment, he should know better than to touch her since he knows she's a Time Lord. The Doctor has said Time Lords considered it extremely rude to be touched. Rose had laughed out right when he'd told her, since he is very touchy-feely with her. He'd whined something about humans...blah...blah, it was her...blah, blah, blah. She knows he secretly craves the intimacy because he has been so lonely; even amongst his own people. Not touching can't be natural. She didn't even think it was really natural in a telepathic society either. It seemed like much of the social and interpersonal behaviours that had been suppressed in the Time Lords, had not necessarily made them a happier people. Rose has wondered what had happened when he was growing up that he would be so opposite to the rest of his people.

"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place? Where the hell is he?" Wolf demands. She's annoyed at the wasted time.

"Hang on." Opening his wrist-comp and pressing a few buttons, he turns a few degrees to the left of their current position, points and heads off in the new direction. "This way, about half a klick."

Wolf jogs to keep up with him now that he's started loping along in the chosen direction.

 _/Really! I'm running behind a younger version of Jack, chasing after a mad man who has kidnapped my mad man, in a dress and heels. (snort) Who's mad now!/_  she thinks to herself. Despite everything, she grins at the picture of how ridiculous this situation is.

As she's running along though, she  _is_  thankful for the shoes that are letting her move this quickly. It's almost like they're heels and boots, all in one. She would really have preferred to be in jeans and a shirt. Bouncing around in this dress is getting old, and she knows it won't help at all if the situation gets hairy. At this thought the dress reforms itself to her mid-stride into a form-fitted black catsuit-it even has pockets, and her shoes have become matching black boots. Stumbling a little in her surprise, she's still able to keep up with Jack. This really  **is**  the best piece of clothing she's ever had! The Doctor had said it was made from telepathic cloth, but she hadn't been paying close attention with him standing there looking so…delicious in that tuxedo. Reaching into her handbag hoping she might have magically dropped a hair tie in it, she comes across all kinds of things; food bars, extra clothes, and all sorts of strange pieces and parts that must be intended for the Doctor. With eyes wide, she also feels something small and metallic; pulling it out she sees it's a weird spade shaped, key? Turning it over in her in her hand she abruptly hears Darling in her head.

**_~My Wolf, be careful! This is a very volatile situation. Time is in flux. Something may be about to happen, that shouldn't have. I had hoped this possibility was so small as to be unlikely. Trust the Lover, he will help you. He is so young, but he is still ours. You must find my Thief. He is in great danger.~_ **

_/It must be a recording/_  Rose thinks as the voice ends. Well, bugger! Darling said a lot and not enough. What might happen? What kind of danger is the Doctor in? The Lover? Jack? So that's what the TARDIS calls him. That would be hysterical if Rose wasn't so worried about everything else. How did all this stuff get in here? Darling wouldn't have put all this in there and then sent them merrily on their way...would she? It was bigger-on-the-inside...maybe they were...connected? Ahhh, there it is; they could be connected. Her knowledge kicking in _: A TARDIS can create dimensionally transcendental enclosures that are temporally null, and connected to a receptacle in the ship itself._   **That**  was certainly handy. Maybe she'd done it as a precaution. Whatever the reason, it eases Rose's mind a little to have these items. She'll catalogue them when she can.

As they get closer Jack starts to curse and mutter under his breath.

"What's wrong?" All this swearing can't possibly be good, so she's leery of the answer.

"Spaceport. Is what's wrong. I think he's heading toward our ship."

"You have a ship? Bollocks!"

"How else would you get on and off this crate?" Picking up speed, but looking back at her quizzically, he comes to a complete stop and stares at her open-mouthed. She runs past him with a grin, and he has to catch up to her. "You changed! How'd you do that?"

"Superior Time Lord technology, you wouldn't understand." She's completely charmed with the miffed and awed expression on his face. Knowing she's worn that look plenty of times in the past, she thoroughly enjoys using the phrase herself this time.

Now at an all out run, Jack and Wolf come around some outbuildings to see the spaceport. Being an enormous floating city in the 26th Century, it's suitably huge. There is a forcefield of some sort at the top of a dome for the ships to leave through. The ships themselves are in neat rows, and stacks depending on how they are parked. There are humans, aliens, and machines everywhere loading and unloading ships, moving the ships to launch positions, and some filing into the ships themselves. Checking his wrist again, they weave in and through all the commerce going on around them steadily heading to his ship.

"There it is, the black and blue one. Hurry, he's trying to hack in. Where the hell did he find a cryo-pod?" Just as they see the ship in question with a man working on it, they also see a deck officer wander up with his work screen, probably to ask politely if he can be of any assistance. The sandy-haired man is fiddling with a control panel on the side of the ship ignoring him. The officer taps him on the shoulder, and the man pulls out a blaster shooting him dead on the spot without even looking at him. At the same time, the main hatch pops open, he loads what looks like a silver coffin into the it, and throws himself in after it. Alarms are going off, and people are converging on the area with the downed officer.

Jack and Rose can't run any longer now that they're caught up in the crowd. Attempting to push further past, all they can do is watch helplessly as the ship rises gently from the deck and heads for the forcefield. Watching it for as long as possible, Rose is numb with horror. How can she have missed him? Was he in the cryo-pod? Where can they be going? All these questions race through her mind. Reaching out to him, she can feel he's alive. Straining herself painfully, she reaches further trying to get past his shields and gain that place where she'd touched his core accidentally that time. There's too much happening around her to be completely successful, but she does her best to imbed a message for him on his dormant psyche.

**_~I'm coming, my love. I don't know what's happened, but I will find you. Nothing will stop me. I love you Doctor. Believe...~_ **

As the ship pops through the field Rose is jostled by the crowd and she loses sight of it. Turning she buries her head into Jack's chest. She doesn't care if he knows who she is or not—he feels like her Jack and that will have to do. He glances down and wraps his arms around her before looking back up where his ship had been.

 _/I will get you, you stupid bastard, if there is any of you left to get, but John Hart you are a dead man,/_ Jack thinks this towards his receding ship as hard as he can. He knows John won't hear him, but if that asshole felt a shiver just then, maybe he'll know who it's from.

Looking back down at Wolf, he tightens his arms around her. She's sobbing against him, and he doesn't blame her. He isn't exactly sure why he cares all that much, but he does. There's something about this girl that tugs at his heart. Maybe the whole situation reminds him a little too painfully of losing his brother. Not wanting to think too deeply on it, he loosens his hold and pulls Wolf away slightly.

"We need to get to your ship if we have any hope of catching them. I assume it can travel in the Vortex?"

"Ya, she can. Can your Time Agent ship, as well?"

How did she know he was a Time Agent? Just as he's about to ask, an enormous voice is heard throughout the city.

 _"This is Commander Straarl, of the Mighty 35th Sontaran Battle Fleet. Your puny human city is harbouring Rutans. Deliver the Rutans to us or die."_  Looking up, people start screaming and running toward any ships they can reach. Several ships were on their way skyward when the announcement started. As these reached the forcefield and make it through, they are blown out of the sky, their balls of flame visible from the spaceport floor. Gasping Rose reaches for the Doctor again; faintly he's still there, unchanged. The Sontarans must not have shot them down because they hadn't made their announcement yet. How generous. At the moment she is decidedly grateful.

"They made it!" she crows at Jack. "Oh, I'm an idiot! Do you have your Vortex Manipulator?"

"Yes but it's broken. It will only hop us to a location within 3 klicks and only in the current time stream and only if I can lock on something specific.  And before you ask, it doesn't currently lock on my ship.  That ass thought it would be..."

"Of course it's broken," she interrupts.  "Isn't it always, but it's perfect for what we need. Can you do a scan for artron energy?"

"Yes, but wha-"

"Just do it!"

"Okay, okay. Yes! I have sizeable concentration about 1 klick back the way we came and a little further west."

"Take us to within a couple blocks of that location."

"But I don't und-"

"Jack! That's my ship. I don't think Sontarans are all that used to waiting from what I know of them and we don't have much time if I'm going to stop them. We have to go. Now."

Finally understanding her, he taps at his wrist trying to zero in on the source of the obscure type of energy, but not end up in it, and after a few seconds is ready. Clutching Wolf to him, he presses the button. Arriving in a flash of blue about 3 meters from the alley containing the TARDIS, Wolf lets out a whoop of victory. Grabbing Jack's hand she tugs him toward the alley.

"Whoa, girly. If you'd wanted me in an alley all you had to do was ask," he says with his patented 'everyone loves me' smirk. Rose chuckles grimly, but is obviously immune. Rolling her eyes she drags Jack to the TARDIS. He pulls back when he sees they're headed for a 1950's Police box.

"What the hell? I thought your ships were cloaked. How is a blue 20th Century Police box cloaking on 26th Century Saturn?" Fumbling for her key, she doesn't turn around to answer him. "It's the chamel—errr, cloaking device. It's broken, got stuck in 1963. What you see is what you get. She has a perception filter."

Finally getting her key out of her dress/catsuit she inserts it into the lock and opens the doors. Rushing inside, she pauses at the doors as Jack runs in and up the ramp. She closes the doors and leans against them waiting to see his reaction. Darling is happy they made it, but distraught at her arrival with Jack, but not the Doctor.

 _/Hang on Darling. I need to get Jack settled, deal with some Sontarans, and then have you help get us the hell out of here so we can follow the ship that has the Doctor on it./_  Receiving the wave of acceptance Rose turns back to Jack. Beat...beat...ahh there it is.

"Holy Rings of Akhaten! It's bigger in here than out there!" Eyes huge and trembling slightly Jack leans against the rail. "Wow! No one would ever believe me."

Heading up the ramp toward the Console,"This is the TARDIS...T.A.R.D.I.S. Which means-"

"Actually, I know this part, Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. We learn what little there is to know about Time Lords in training, and  _that_  at least is something we know."

Outside they can hear some explosions and feel the city beneath them lurch.

"Right Sontarans," Rose says on her way past Jack.

Leaping to the Console, Rose grabs the screen pulling it towards her. Just letting her Time Lord brain do everything without thinking, she soon has the Sontaran Commander on the screen.

"Commander Straarl, cease and desist. By Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation I demand the ability to Parley for the safety of the innocents in this city." She hopes that sounds authoritative enough. She's just really happy to have the knowledge she needs come to her as she needs it.

"Human Female! We will not Parley. Sontarans do not recognise the Shadow Proclamation's jurisdiction here. There are Rutans and they will die. This is our mandate," the potato-shaped clone commander says with a snarl.

"I'm not Human, I'm a Time Lord, and if you know there are Rutans here just go get them. Let everyone else leave. Stop blowing their ships from the sky!" Rose pleads.

"Rutans and their supporters will die." Ending the transmission abruptly, Straarl is gone.

"No! No, no, NO! Why won't they listen? What do they gain by killing everyone. I have to stop them," Rose gasps out.

Madly tapping at the keyboard and face glued to the screen, Rose looks for options. Jack steps up to her, and taps her on the shoulder. Whirling around with a half-crazed look on her face and tears lining her cheeks, she's about to yell at him, but stops at the look on his face.

"Their Sontaran that's how, and there  _are_  Rutans here, he says with a rueful shake of his head. "They're why I'm here. I—we were meeting them here to talk about arms shipments that were coming from the 40th Century. They were afraid the higher tech would lead the Sontarans here. Unfortunately, they were right, and we're too late. We have to leave," he finishes quietly, knowing whats coming.

"But this isn't supposed to happen. The city isn't destroyed this way, not now." Turning back to the screen, she sees the TARDIS is warning her that they need to leave and immediately. Clamping down hard on her feelings, she opens up to Darling.

_/Okay, let's get out of here. Help me, please?/_

**_~Of course, my Wolf. I am so sorry. I will help you, then we must find my Thief.~_ **

With a grim twist of her lips, Rose starts leaping around the console pushing buttons, pressing switches, pulling levers, and directing Jack where he can help. This is  ** _not_**  the way she envisioned her first solo driving trip would go. Throwing the final lever they dematerialise just as hundreds of shuddering cracks appear in the walls and ceilings of the city.

* * *

Chelsea 426 bursts apart into millions of glittering pieces above the clouds of Saturn. The debris field hung there for a couple of days as the bits and pieces fell into the atmosphere of Saturn and were burned up. The Sontarans left after three days. Earth successfully negotiated that they had no idea, and yes thank you for destroying such a heinous weapons cache. The added threat of 25 Judoon ships coming to observe, helped encourage the Sontarans along. Earth stopped all further negotiations with the Rutans, letting them know they were no longer welcome.

* * *

The many, many changes to the time streams continued to displace and alter reality out to the furthest reaches of the Universe. At a couple of key points this additionally destabilised the fabric of Reality damaging the Universe further. As these ripples again found their way to a long forgotten corner, a long slumbering entity notices, and shivers in unease, awakening at what she senses these changes have wrecked across the vast landscape that she considers her garden. Cracking open a sun-filled eye, she readies herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're enjoying my story so far! We've reached the top of the first hill on my roller coaster. If you read my first story "Song of the Spheres," then you'll recognize the OC character I mention at the end. :-) Enjoy the ride!


	11. We'er a Long Way From Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Jack get settled in the TARDIS, and the Doctor feels sorry for himself.

**11 We're a Long Way from Home**

 

"Alright, we're in the Vortex, in a time machine, so start talking. Does that ship of yours have time-travel capabilities?" Rose turns to Jack with a weary smile, but it doesn't reach her eyes.

"No, thankfully, and it can't possibly be fully repaired; we were only here 24 hours before this whole mess. He couldn't have gotten far. Now, my turn. How did you know I was a Time Agent?"

"Hmm...I can't tell you too much you understand, timelines and all, but I know a future you, and he said he was a Time Agent." She is careful with her tenses here, since she knew Jack had left the Agency after they'd wiped two years from his memory.

With the Timelines in disarray she wonders if that will happen now, or if what is happening is what caused the memory wipe; that would mean a Circular Paradox. She doesn't  _think_  that's the case here, but as she's just seen; time can be rewritten. She knows what just happened to Chelsea 426 is wrong, terribly wrong. The TARDIS showed her that the then-empty city was allowed to fall into Saturn in the 31st Century after it became too expensive to maintain. She can't help feeling that somehow this is her fault. She should have been able to stop the Sontarans. Struggling with the guilt she takes a deep breath to steady herself.

"Right, well let me show you around, and get you a room. We might be on this ride a while." Heading out of the Console Room and down the hallway Rose shows him the Kitchen and the Library, the Swimming Pool and the Infirmary. He doesn't need a grand tour. Darling agrees, and keeps the hallways elsewhere sealed, so they don't look tempting. Taking him to a room at the end of the hall, Rose sees it's an undecorated guest room. Showing him its amenities and leaving him to explore on his own, Rose heads to her own room.

Stepping through the door she's unprepared for all the Doctor-ishness in her room. She hasn't thought about it at all, and of course considering the circumstances, that's understandable. None of this means that the sight of his books, jimjams, extra glasses, and stacks of readouts affects her any less. Falling to her knees, she presses her fists to her eyes as his scent surrounds her, mixed with her own. The last several weeks had been so happy. Every few days they would cuddle up in here, and sleep through what passed for night on the TARDIS; it had been wonderful. Now, she has no idea how long it will be before she has him here again. Would he want to be here again?

_/Of course, he will. Don't be stupid. You're just scared. You have to fight Rose Tyler. No one has ever kept you down, and it won't start here. You believed in him when you thought you were lost in Pete's World, and that really_ **_was_ ** _almost impossible. This is just another, though slightly different, kind of jail cell, and you've gotten him out of plenty of those. Focus!/_

Pulling herself together and dashing tears from her eyes, she strips and heads for the shower. She wants A LOT of hot water, and the TARDIS is happy to oblige.

Darling is very worried. Her Thief missing, her Wolf doubting, and the underlying structure if the Universe is stretching thin in places; she can feel it. It will give somewhere, but where, and before or after her Thief and Wolf are reunited? She is glad the Lover is on board. He can be strong for her Wolf, but will he be able to help? His Time isn't right and he isn't  _Now_ , though she is thankful that he is still nice and normal; no uneasy itching yet from this current incarnation. Feeling along the Timelines, Darling sees too many possibilities, and many of them disastrous. There is a clear path though, if she can only thread them successfully through the upcoming events, all will right itself. Much depends on her Wolf though. Weaving songs of encouragement and love through the ship, Darling does her best to prepare her occupants for what's coming.

* * *

The Doctor is trapped. Trapped in his mind and his body. Currently, he's pacing his Foyer-doing laps around and around the Pools. He hates the Pools, but can't get rid of them; they're permanent now. They're Romana's fault, and he hadn't even known they were there till it was too late. Theoretically he knew what they were, but she was always better at the mental sciences than he was. His telepathy was stronger than almost anyone else's on Gallifrey, and that had been why she'd constructed these Temporal Stabilisation Pools in the first place. She knew he wouldn't be able to withstand the death of his people and their destroyers, no one could, but she had installed these hateful things to  _save_  him; he recognised her mental signature in their singing, and she'd managed to do it when he was unconscious. Cheeky. She'd probably laughed, when the opportunity literally fell into her lap. Smiling softly at the thought, he stops his pacing. Sitting down, he leans back against the side of the Pool and allows himself to remember.

*********

It was the last time he'd come in for repairs during the War.  The time he  learned what was really going on with Rassilon, Romana, and his mother's plan to steal the Moment and persuade It to help them. He'd shown up bruised and battered, but his dear old TARDIS was just too damaged for him to stay within her once they landed. When he'd stumbled out of her in his ripped up uniform—covered in blood and mumbling about Arcadia, right into Romana's rooms of all places; he'd been surprised, but truly glad when she'd run toward him murmuring comfort as he lost consciousness.

When he awoke from his healing coma, his head still hurt (of course, now he knows that's because she'd spent hours mucking around in there). Romana walks into the room, checking on him. She blithers at him about getting himself and his TARDIS so damaged, about expecting a call before a gentleman shows up in her rooms; she's being evasive. Reaching out to her, and taking her hand he asks her mentally to tell him what was wrong.

_//Well, we are probably safe in here; as long as we touch no one can hear us.//_

_/Have they gotten that good? They can read telepathic speech now?/_

_//Yes. Once the Daleks learned to speak mind to mind it was necessary, but you know how clever Narvin and his people are, or were. They've left us.//_

_/What? How is that even possible, and now? Have they no sense of the need of our people?/_

_//Oh Doctor. It is so much worse than even you can imagine.//_

Raising a cool hand to his temple pretending to wipe his brow, she shows the Doctor everything that has happened since he left. Staggered, he is very glad to be laying down. He could have had no idea how bad everything is going. They aren't losing, no they've lost. Rassilon, that crazy bastard. He'd agreed with Romana that resurrecting him was a very bad idea, but they'd been voted down. Now, many of those supporters are dead, and Romana is no longer Lady President, but Valued Advisor. She walks a tight-rope every day from one death-by Rassilon's devious hand, towards another—the final destruction of everything.

They stare at each other in mutual grieving for their life and their people. As annoying as the Time Lords could be, and as many times as the Doctor has hated them, Romana's right, this is much, much worse than he could have ever imagined.

_/_ _/We have a plan. It's actually your mother's doing, which figures since there's stealing involved. She's awfully brilliant with the maths and very convincing. You aren't going to like it.//_

_/Well, I don't much like the idea of Rassilon collapsing the Vortex and ending the entire Universe on a gamble that he and his chosen few might… "ascend" either. I wonder, if he succeeds, will the "Celestis" survive? I think not. Pompous gits! So what's this plan I won't like?/_

Romana makes a show of wiping his brow again, so she can share the plan with him. When she's given him the last of it, she indulges herself in an outward display of affection by running her hand through the short cropped hair he has now, iron grey, no longer the lovely curls he'd had when she'd first called for him. Resting her hand against his cheek, he gives her a weak smile until it turns to anguish.

_/You're right. I don't like it. In fact, I hate it. Why? Why would you have me do this, commit this atrocity?/_

_//You know the answer to that as well as I do. If you don't, a much greater atrocity will take place, and there will be no hope anyone will survive. Your mother is working very hard on that.//_

_/_ **_Will_ ** _anyone survive?/_

_//Well, there's you.//_

With a strangled sob he pulls her down and into his arms. He has lost so many, but now he stands to lose everyone, and he has no choice. Feeling her fear and determination through their continued touch, he shares his love and admiration for her. It is as open as they've ever been with each other, and they're both grateful, fleeting though it will be. Releasing her, he moves to get out of the bed and get dressed. Looking at the clothing laid out for him, he sees unbelievably that he's been promoted. A General now, how kind, and a new uniform for him to wear at the _'End of Days.'_ Thinking harshly to himself, he curses Rassilon.

_/Damn you Rassilon and your Ultimate Sanction, damn you to every circle of hell I might create for you./_

Methodically, and under Romana's soothing gaze he slips into the hated clothes, the green and black of the Gallifreyan military. On his right shoulder the burgundy and orange badge of his Chapter overlaid by the crest of his House, Lungbarrow. On his left shoulder the new General's badge in silver and gold Gallifreyan script. He still refuses to wear the armour. Affixing the Generals pips to his collar, he turns to Romana, "Acceptable?" he grunts.

"Indeed. It figures it would take a uniform to restrain your rather imaginative fashion sense." She smiles at him, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Returning her smile with a grim one of his own, he takes her hand and squeezes it hard one more time, trying to convey everything he's feeling in what may be his last touch. Releasing her hand with a final rub of thumb over palm he turns to stride from the room commenting, "It will do for now, though don't expect me to keep to these regimentals." At a snort from Romana, he turns to look at her again. She can almost see the ghost of a smile, before it's chased away by the seriousness of their situation. Turning away and continuing toward the door, he calls over his shoulder, "Let's finish this farce."

It is only a few days later that the plan—the Moment, is used. Like everyone involved, he'd hoped for longer. Hoped that maybe he could see his family—his mother, but Romana thought it would be too dangerous if he's seen going door to door, as she puts it. As it is, they have to move sooner than any of them thought as the Daleks deal them a crushing defeat, and move on to Gallifrey proper. Managing to somehow get through the Transduction Barrier, Daleks are landing on the planet's surface. The Doctor has just contrived to get far enough away from the planet before the ten million strong Dalek Legion shows up and surrounds Gallifrey. The Time Trenches help, but for how long?

Both of them sensing the Time is right to implement their plans, Rassilon and the Doctor ready themselves. As the Citadel of the Time Lords rocks with explosions, and the Dome begins to crack, it is the Doctor's mother who disagrees with Rassilon one final time; giving the Doctor precious seconds to implement the Moment. He is so desperate to finish before Rassilon destroys everything that he can't take any time to think about what he's doing. With the final connection made, the Doctor immediately depresses the button releasing the weapon. Feeling a final mental caress from Romana, his mother, and an unknown other, he watches his planet and all the Daleks burn. In an incandescent flash, everything is rubble, and the Time Lock slams into place.

At the instant of the flash, when all the life forces of both the Daleks and the Time Lords cease to exist, the Doctor's psyche is pulled into the space between the two Temporal Stabilisation Pools Romana placed in his Foyer. There he writhes and spins, screaming in a mental agony that should have killed him. It would have if he hadn't been suspended in the temporal null-zone created between the focal points of dark and light energies; the surface of the Pools boiling as they attempt to dampen the effects of the massive Temporal disturbances happening outside. He still feels the death of each and every mind on his planet, stripping him of his people, but it is like watching it happen to someone else.

Had he still been conscious, in his body on the pitching and yawing floor of his struggling TARDIS, these deaths would have incinerated his mind. He would be brain-dead if not yet physically dead. As it is, many, many days pass as he lays on the floor of his slowly healing TARDIS in a deep coma, trying to repair the damage caused by the gaping vast emptiness in his head and regeneration. When he does finally awaken, he is an entirely new, but broken man who spends the first few months of his Ninth life searching for those hinted at survivors. He's found no one, not yet anyway. Romana wanted him alive, and so he survived. At times, despite his best efforts not, too.

* * *

Still leaning against the wall of the lower Pool, the Doctor indulges in the melancholy the memory has left him with. He had never wanted the role that had been thrust upon him. He may have chosen it, when there was no other options left—wasn't that duress, but he now regretted his part in ending the Time War.

Suddenly he has a flash of…memory? It was so quick even he almost didn't catch it, but the accompanying emotions linger, and one image.

_Sand beneath his feet, his hand upon the Moment about to activate it when his old, tired hand is joined by two more youthful ones. He is so profoundly grateful to not do this alone._

The Doctor is surprised by the memory. What was that?  **Where**  was that? He doesn't remember it that way. Considering his current options, he decides to worry about it later. He could be picking up a shred of memories left over from a collapsed timeline occurring during the Time War. He tries hard to lock it all away again. Dwelling on any of  _that_  will not help him now.

Now, all he can do is lay here or continue trudging around the Pools. He can go explore more of his own memories...umm, no. He's pretty sure a sharp stick in the eye would be more fun. Certainly there are many, many good times, but the bad times far outweigh them even if purely on grief to joy ratios. No, he will wait here. His big Time Lord brain will come up with something. The problem is that he isn't conscious, and he is almost certain he's in some sort of cryo-sleep as his physical systems are running even slower than a healing coma. He can't implement anything until he is conscious. At least he doesn't seem to be injured.

That crazy bastard at the club drugged him. What for? Why? He'd had no time to ponder any distinguishing features about his assailant before his consciousness fled him. He doesn't even know if Rose is alright, and he can't reach out with his mind while his body is out of commission. So frustrating!

Thinking about Rose, his worry brings him nothing but anguish. He should be protecting her; she's still so new. Too many things can happen to her, or may already be happening to her. Pushing these notions away he focuses on good Rose thoughts. Watching her sleep, laughing with her while playing with noseless puppies, that thoroughly surprising brush against his energetic core-it is with this memory that he receives a surprise.

**_~I'm coming, my love. I don't know what's happened, but I will find you. Nothing will stop me. I love you Doctor. Believe...~_ **

He can tell by the feel of her message that he was getting further from her, when she'd embedded it-which is really an impressive feat. That meant that she was free and still on the city. Also the message itself is empowering. She will work tirelessly to find him. His Rose, she is amazing. Faith he has in spades; faith in Rose Tyler. He will marshal his strength until the first moment he can act, then this freak that has separated him from his Rose is going to have a really rude awakening.

Even more determined now with Rose's promise burned into his mind, he goes about figuring a way out of this mess.


	12. Never Look a Gift Horse in the--Oh Hell!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look at the other side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually put my author's note at the bottom, but I wanted to give fair warning that I have used harsh language and graphic descriptions of injuries in this chapter. Thanks for reading, and as always I really appreciate the reviews.

 

**12 Never Look A Gift Horse-Oh Hell**

"Son of a whoring Macra!" exclaims Lt. John Hart upon exiting the Chelsea 426 space dome and seeing the fleet of Sontaran ships surrounding the city.

Banking hard enough for the unlocked cryo-pod to go bouncing down the hallway smashing its way into an Infirmary cabinet, he narrowly avoids the ships, and slingshots himself across Saturn's atmosphere. Easing into a geosynchronous orbit, he has 45 minutes to determine his status before choices need to be made about destinations.

Breathing hard from the near miss, he shivers hard in his chair; like someone just walked over his grave. Shaking himself, he ignores it. He's been in tougher scrapes than this. Heading back to retrieve his prize, John sees that the pod did quite a bit of damage on its way to its current resting place. Not only did it smash the Infirmary cabinet, but also the door to the main loo, and scraped some buttons off the the food synthesiser. "Dammit! This day is just gettin' better and better," he grumbles out loud.

Muttering to himself as he attempts to dislodge the pod from the cabinet, it comes loose in a rush throwing him backwards, and landing on him with what is now a fluctuating 10-400 kilo weight across his right leg and hip. With an inarticulate howl of anguish, he waits the few seconds for the hover portion of the cycle and pulls himself from under it. Rolling to his side, he has to lay there a few minutes for some of the pain to recede before he can assess his own damage let alone that done to the ship, and he only had...craning his neck to look at the chronometer, 32 minutes before the Sontaran fleet hove into view.

Relaxing back to his side, he takes a deep breath and rolls onto his back. Not too bad; there's a twinge of pain, but he would survive. If the pod had fallen on him higher up his body, he'd probably be dead. Sitting up though, brings stars to his eyes, and an immediate falling back to the floor gasping in pain. His knee, something is terribly wrong with his right knee.

Reaching down he feels sticky wetness, and sharp bone.  _/Oh god! What the fuck else!?/_ he thinks indignantly through a fog of pain and endorphins.

 _/Don't be a girl, pull your shit together! You're runnin' outta time./_  With a colossal effort, he pulls himself up and presses his back against the nearest bulkhead. His upper body now pointed toward the near-destroyed medical cabinet, he pulls himself toward it leaving a trail of smeared blood behind. His harsh pants the only sound to fill the interior of the small ship.

Reaching the scattered supplies, he digs first for a hypospray of painkiller, finding all but three smashed to bits, he uses one, and sets the other two aside. Continuing to catalogue his available medical assets he looks for an expanding cast while waiting for the pain to abate. Finally receiving some relief and locating an intact cast canister, he goes about encasing his leg from cafe to mid-thigh in an effort to immobilise his knee. Ready to activate the cast, he hooks his foot under a convenient bit of metal. Taking a few deep quick breaths he readies himself for what he's about to do next. On his fourth such breath he grits his teeth, and pulls back with all his remaining strength, straightening his leg and pulling the still connected bone shards back under the skin, at the same moment slamming the activator against the cast. As it builds itself around his now straightened leg, John Hart loses consciousness. The last thing he sees as the blackness roars up, is his Time Lord's serenely frozen features locked in the cryo-pod.

Snapping awake a few minutes later, he sees his leg is stable, and the painkillers are still working. It couldn't have been too long. Levering his other leg under him, and forcing himself to stand, he turns, and sees he has 18 minutes to decide what to do, and make it happen.

Talking to himself, he begins to outline a plan. "Okay, so the idea to just hide on a moon, build the vortex-booster, and go, won't work. Not with me injured. Great, just great!" Looking back at his frozen prize he turns the conversation to him. "Laying eyes on you and your missus, was the worst mistake I've made in years. I sure hope you're worth it!"

Sitting at the flight console he brings up their relative location and inputs the likely data to find windows out of this planetary system heading for another that will fill his new needs. A few seconds later, the computer spits out Mars. Thinking through his training, John is satisfied. Mars in the 26th Century is about to have another renaissance, long, peaceful and perfect for getting him fixed. He can probably garner some sympathy for escaping the City before the Sontarans were through with it. Perfect.

The sun-side of Saturn is rapidly approaching. Standing again and mag-locking the pod to the floor this time, he gets himself strapped in just as his screens polarise against the Solar radiation. Hitting the execute button on the console, the engines flare to life, pushing them toward Mars. Checking his view screens, John pulls up the rear camera to see how the City is faring.

John watches grimly, jaw clenched as Chelsea 426 explodes into a million mirrored pieces sparkling in the sunlight. He hadn't intended any of that to happen. Hell, he was lucky he got out. He and that stupid partner of his would be space-meat right about now. That also meant the Time Lord in the rear had lost his mate. Hmmm...that wasn't going to be good. Well, he was currently on ice, and he could stay that way till they finally made it back to the blessed 51st Century, the Agency, and some real civilisation! He was just about done with all this hillbilly back water crap.

Finally feeling better about himself and his place in the Universe, John Hart allows himself to nod off. It would be several hours before they reach Mars' airspace. He has plenty of time to perfect his sob story. With a smile on his lips, he falls asleep with visions of riches and promotions dancing in his naive little head. What he hadn't noticed, was the crack in the previously well-used cryo-pod, or the repair notice that had been taped to the window of his ship when he'd taken off, saying the inertial dampeners which were now at 50%, and the impulse stabilisers- _were irreparably damaged-parts on order from Titan_. He only  ** _thought_**  his day was bad.

* * *

Not much more than an hour later John is thrust awake to screaming alarms and a weird odour in the air of the cabin. Crashing back to reality with the skills of a soldier and pilot, he immediately starts pressing buttons and toggling switches to kill the alarms and determine what the problem is.

"Shit! Inertial dampeners down to 40%, and the fucking impulse stabilisers didn't get fixed! They had 24 hours; what the hell were they doing?!" Looking over, he remembers he's alone. Then he remembers everything else as he swivels in his chair and the pain from his knee catches him up short. Eyeing the cryo-pod, he sees that it too has blinking lights, and none of them are green and normal.

Heaving himself up, he ratchets his way to the pod. Cursing when he remembers the anti-grav is busted, he lowers himself gingerly to the floor, wincing when he crashes down onto his backside, and starting to feel nauseous. Scooting around to look at the status screen, he sees the crack, and notices the low fog of cryo-gas hovering a centimetre deep over the floor. That would explain the nausea. Crap, crap, CRAP! Checking the levels he sees that he has about an hour before it reaches critical, and he will have to either wake the Time Lord, or show up at headquarters with a mouldering fairy tale corpse.

"Fuck! I should have listened to that asshole and left you alone! I hate it when that bastard is right. Even dead and he's still fucking right! ARRRGHH!" Usually swearing up a blue-streak makes him feel more in control, but not today.

Think, think, think! No impulse stabilisers, so he will have to fly them in bursts using nav-jets to correct their course. That means the normally 3-5 hour trip, will likely take at least 2 days. With such reduced inertial dampeners he will have to shut them off once their up to speed and only engage them when activating the bursts. Dammit! Damn good thing he's the better pilot. Turning the ship around to continue impulse bursting in the opposite direction will be his only method of deceleration. Otherwise the dampeners would have to be on continuously, and he doesn't have enough power for that. This day just keeps getting worse.

Wrenching himself up off the floor, he manoeuvres himself to his flight chair. Disengaging the inertial dampeners, he lets them coast toward Mars. He has two hours before his first course correction. Turning back to look over the cryo-pod and back toward the rear of the ship, he starts thinking of what might already be on board to restrain an angry Time Lord.

Pulling his comp around him, he keys in "Time Lord" to see what the computer might know about these myths and legends. It takes him only 5 minutes to read everything there is on them...3 times. What little he has is enough that he does  **not**  want him walking around free and capable.

Accessing the ships inventory, John starts digging through the manifests seeing what his anal-retentive ex-partner has catalogued. "Oh ho, what have we here?" he calls out to no one. "Huduct Mind-control Torcs". Right! We picked those up at that shady flea market on Tanus Minor, 4538."

He looks up the "Huduct" which led him to the "Anubians" and their history of using the torcs to control each other. Laughing at the irony of the slavers becoming the enslaved; John thinks these will work perfectly. He is mostly worried about the telepathy and any other psychic powers this alien might possess. He isn't certain the torc will completely suppress them, but he's willing to try.

Continuing to search the manifests trying to think of anything else that would restrain his Time Lord, John freezes, a blush creeping up his neck- _the collars_. That stupid bastard was dead, so he refused to think about the collars intended usage, but they were programmable to inhibit or encourage certain thoughts or behaviours. He would just program one to inhibit the Time Lord's ability to misbehave. Grinning to himself as he pulls, pushes, and stumbles his way to the rear of the ship, he digs through storage lockers looking for the intended articles. This might actually be fun, and extremely useful. He will essentially have a slave, and right now he needs one. The Time Lord can be his hands and feet, and if the computer is at all correct, he should be brilliant, so maybe he can fix the ship, too. About damn time his luck changed.

Pleased with himself, he heads back to the front of the ship with his newly acquired items. He'd made the most of his search back there to use the rear loo, and that took way more time than he'd intended. He's cutting it close to rescue the soon to be dying Time Lord.

Making it to the casket with three minutes to spare and all the indicator lights turning an alarming mauve, he starts the opening sequence, but opts out of the stimulant injections, preferring to do those manually at this point. He'll need some time to get the torc and collar set, so unconscious will be the better choice at the moment.

Leaning back as the hatch lifts out of the way, he can see he's still almost too late. The Time Lord is death pale, and his temperature isn't coming back up as fast as a humans would. Choosing to assume everything's fine, John scoots up to lean against the pod. Picking up the collar first he uses its control to tune it for the behaviours that are acceptable and sets it to suppress those that aren't. Suppression consists of shocks that grow in intensity as the occupant struggles, to tightening if the shocks don't work. It is capable of inducing unconsciousness through asphyxiation, but has a hard-wired failsafe to prevent death. It's intended for sex after all.

Getting it programmed, he sets the control aside, and turns to affix the collar around the Time Lord's throat. With a click, the collar becomes seamless and adjusts itself to be the perfect size, resting gently against his skin. As an added bonus, it will change colour with the occupants thoughts, warning the master of impending disobedience, so one could choose to be preemptive. John is going to enjoy being in control of  **that**  finally.

Blushing again, he sets aside the controller and turns to pick up torc. He isn't as familiar with this piece, but since it was originally designed to fit the heads of the Anubians he assumes that's the best location for the Time Lord. Telepathy comes from the head, right? First placing the control unit against his own temple, he feels a slight pinch as it attaches itself to his skin and injects a tiny filament into his bloodstream, allowing it to read the intended electrical impulses it will turn into commands for the torc. Receiving the minuscule chime that denotes the unit's readiness, John slips the torc over the Time Lord's head setting it even with his temples. It has a flashing purple light indicating its ready to pair with the control unit.

Thinking the control phrase,  ** _/You are mine. I do with you as I please for the benefit of all Huduct/_** The light turns a sold purple and the torc snaps snug against the Time Lord's head.

John has about a second and a half to feel smug when the Time Lord suddenly sits straight up in the open pod screaming his pent up fury. Eyes black with rage The Oncoming Storm turns to face his attacker. John has scrambled away from the infuriated Time Lord, and has pushed himself as far from him as possible with eyes wide and trembling. The collar flashes red, and John's terrified thoughts have the Time Lord clutching his skull and throat in another few seconds. With a bright flash one or the other of the slaving devices has rendered the Time Lord comatose, again. Trying to regain his breath and slow his hammering heart, John is very glad he got the devices on in time.

Time Lords must be able to metabolise much faster than humans. A normal human should have been out for a few more hours after a cryo-sequence was aborted without the injections of the usual stimulants. Looking back at his prize slumped over the edge of the open pod, he's pleased at how ingenious his combination of technology is.

John levers himself up into his command chair.  _Command chair_ , yes it is. Getting comfortable, he prepares to wake his slave.  _/At least I know he's alive and healthy,/_ John thinks with an unpleasant smile growing on his handsome face. "Master John Hart is ready to be obeyed," he says, as he lifts the collar's control, and releases the coma with a thought.


	13. Dreams and Circular Paradoxes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Jack get to know each other a little better, and the Sphynx visits with a plan.

**13 Dreams and Circular Paradoxes**

Rose exits her shower after allowing the never ending hot water wash away the rest of her doubt and fear. She's Rose Tyler, the Doctor's trusted friend and partner, daughter of the fiery Jackie Tyler, and second to last Time Lord; she's valued and cherished. Even  _her_  idiot Time Lord lets that slip through their link occasionally. He loves her; she knows it, despite him not saying the human words. If the situation were reversed she has first hand knowledge of how he would never stop trying to reach her. Her options are simple; she will do the same.

Stepping naked from the steam into her room she is much calmer, centred. Seeing the Doctor's detritus no longer saddens her, but gives her hope. She will return him to his home, and to her. She's done with the waiting game though. They've had plenty of time reacquainting, and Rose knows exactly what she wants. Once things settle, it will be time to talk, and hopefully more. About many things of course, but what she means is about their relationship. She's perfectly aware of the directions their relationship could go. Darling and the Library have taken care of that. The Doctor thinks she's only been engrossed in Physics and Engineering; he's wrong. She's also been osmosing everything Darling would give her on the cultural and biological niceties of Time Lord society, and that's where she stumbled over the information on Bonded pairs. Seeing his debris in her room reminds her of the hopes she has for her and her Doctor.

Once the information was discovered, she'd been forced to seriously dig to find any real history on Bonded pairs. It was obvious after Rassilon used the excuse of Pythia's Curse to control reproduction through Looming, that it was no longer necessary to write down all that much about how Gallifreyans had Bonded in the past. Being a telepathic species, true Bonding was permanent, but they had developed many layers of it, as their civilisation had advanced. A surface joining of minds like Rose and the Doctors' was good enough for sharing chosen thoughts and feelings, but didn't enhance or require a full emotional commitment from either party.

Back in what the history books called the Dark Times, there were too many males and not enough females, so Bonding developed as a method of staking ones claim. It was the females prerogative to choose her mate, and the Bonding could only be initiated by the female. Once Bonded, the pair not only didn't want to stray, they couldn't. They were incapable of reproducing with anyone else unless death parted the Bond, and even then often they would not. With Looming, Rassilon could engineer out the biological imperatives that didn't fit with his plans and goals for his Preeminent Time Lord society. He must have been an unloved little boy if he tried so hard to engineer love out of an entire species.

The Doctor had called what he and Rose currently shared a "link," but after all of her research, she knows that it's actually a 'Bonding of the First Circle,' and was originally considered an engagement; an intention towards further commitment, but it could be broken or set aside. As time went on, it became the accepted mode of marriage among Time Lords and most Gallifreyans, because it didn't contain the reproductive imperatives that Bondings of the Second and Third Circles would, and marriages were typically arranged for political benefit, not for any reason as primitive as love.

Bondings of the Second Circle were uncommon, but not unheard of. A joining of Body and Mind between couples that loved one another, but it came with the need to consummate and have children. This form of Bonding was looked down upon as provincial and overly emotional; only used by lay Gallifreyans, certainly not Time Lords. Finally, Bondings of the Third Circle were the tokens of myth and legends. A joining not only of Body and Mind, but also of Souls, no secrets, never alone, and no guaranteed survival if one of the couple was killed. Stories of this sort of Bonding were considered outdated fairytales.

Everything Rose read led her to the conclusion that the Doctor's parents must have been in love and Second Circle bonded. Why else would they have borne a living child, instead of requesting one from the family loom? Especially when he would have been shunned by his own people for a circumstance that was clearly out of his control, and still they had done it-for love. He was literally born from love, and into love, to know...love. It must have been so hard on him, to only have it at home, and then for such a short time.

No wonder he cared so much. He was certainly one of the most caring people she had ever met, and what she could glean from these dusty old books, that was not a consistent trait. That isn't to say that Time Lords didn't 'care', but that they had too much objectivity to care deeply, intimately. This was definitely not the Doctor's problem. In fact, he cared so much that he toiled under an almost debilitating weight of responsibility for every living creature he encountered. Rose loved him for that, and for so much more.

Rose had no idea at the time, that she was actually 'marrying' the Doctor that day she had thrust him into her mind in the Gallifrey room. The link was established because she had brought him to what he called "a shared telepathic space," but in Gallifreyan translated into "where mirrored intentions are agreed upon"; sealed with a kiss and just like that, married. Truthfully, she knew they were probably married several times over in other culture's ideals. This was just one more item she will thoroughly enjoy teasing him about.

Stretching, she realises she's thoroughly knackered, with such a difficult night, it isn't so hard to believe. Taking stock, she also remembers that she hasn't actually slept in three days, of course she's tired. She has Jack waiting on her though, so she moves to get dressed, but pauses as Darling sends her an image of Jack face down asleep on the bed in his room.

_/Well, I see he's tired, too; that's convenient. I could really use some sleep myself, even though I feel like I should be working on finding the Doctor./_

**_~My Wolf, we are in the Vortex. There is no linear Time here. Sleep. We will find a solution soon.~_ **

Sending her thanks to Darling, Rose walks to her bed and slides under the covers. Reaching over she grabs the Doctor's pillow and buries her face into it, snuggling close. Wrapped in his scent like a safety blanket she falls immediately asleep.

Dreaming-

_Rose is in space. Suspended in the cold dark places, surrounded by stars and dust, the seeds of creation. With a thought, she can turn, seeing everything. She's near a giant blue star, burning hotly in the silence. It's almost hard to look at, but beautiful beyond measure and all alone. To her other side are streamers of dust clouds and lanes illuminated gold and rose by the protostars within. In every direction she can see stars, nebulae, far off galaxies; it's inspiring and she loves them all._

_Looking down at herself, Rose sees she's glowing gold, protected and buoyed by a fine cloud of golden dust that surrounds and weaves through her-Bad Wolf. In her mind, she feels the excitement and affection from Bad Wolf at her recognition. She knows this, just as she knows she is also Rose Tyler. Here in her mind, playing in her dreams, she is not restrained by her growing but still limited understanding. As she plays with the dust enveloping her, she feels that she isn't alone. Turning toward her visitor, Rose sees another column of golden energy. This one laced with curling tendrils of colours for which Rose has no names._

_The other energy moves toward Rose; she isn't afraid. She hears a song, and it reminds her of the TARDIS; it is familiar. Moving closer, she harmonises with the song and adds to it. Together, the two sing eternities. They sing of love and life, of the beauty of the cosmos, the destruction that heralds birth, and the death that brings life. They create melodies that rage around them in a maelstrom of creative forces as they dance around each other. They sing of breezes and rain, of raising mountains and burning rock, of fertile fields and ranging forests. Their song is that of creation, of saving what must not be lost._

_Their chords and melodies weave in strands of energy from the nearby star, who gladly gifts itself to them, and with this gift they remake anew._

_Rose has no concept of Time in her dream. It could be a billion billion years in either the future or the past, it does not matter. Coming to rest, their dance complete, she is astonished to see the changes beneath her. There is no longer a blue giant star hanging lonely in space. It has been replaced by an entire solar system of five planets and one medium yellow star, orbited by a smaller dwarf. The planets even have moons, and one has a set of gorgeous rings. That was her part. She specifically remembers singing about the beauty of Saturn's rings._

_She wishes to visit what they've done. Moving closer, her friend reaches out to stop her decent._

_* NO, I AM SORRY. YOU MUST NOT GO, NOT YET—IT IS NOT FINISHED*_

_Humming her sadness, Rose doesn't understand, but is willing to wait. Turning back to her friend, she moves to her side._

_/But why? We did this. We made this. It is wonderful./_

_The entity brushes Rose with affection, and Rose is once again reminded of the TARDIS, but also of more-something very familiar to her._

_/Sphynx! You're the Sphynx! That's why I recognise you even though you look different. I didn't think I would ever see you again. Have you …recovered?/_

_Rose sends the Sphynx her love and wonder at what they have done and all she has been given, mixed with concern for Her well being and a generous helping of awe._

_* YOU ARE WELCOME. I GAVE YOU THAT FORM, I NO LONGER HAVE THE SAME ENERGY TO TAKE IT. I ONLY HAVE YOU A SHORT TIME MORE, AND WE HAVE DONE MUCH, BUT HAVE MUCH LEFT TO DO. A CRISIS IS COMING, AND YOU WILL NEED TO BECOME MORE TO COMBAT IT. MUCH DEPENDS ON YOU AND YOUR DEVELOPMENT *_

_/I will do whatever is needed, but I must find my Doctor; he is lost to me./_

_* ONLY FOR A SHORT TIME, CHILD. YOU WILL RETRIEVE HIM. YOUR ARE BOTH NECESSARY. THE STORM AND THE WOLF MUST COMBINE TO HEAL THE RUPTURES. I WILL SHOW YOU *_

_With that, the Sphynx takes Rose and moves her to a section of space that is nearly empty—far, far from where they had been. Then the Sphynx releases information in Rose's mind...Spherical Gallifreyan and more. Rose watches as the Sphynx takes a word that Rose knows in Gallifreyan and writes it in gold circles in the area around them. She then lays the writing flat and morphs the circular letters into spheres—conjoined spheres within spheres. Then, She sets them in motion, singing to them Her intent. Rose watches in fascination as the Sphynx's intent is made manifest right before her eyes, the word_ **_-rock-_ ** _becoming a large grey pocked asteroid hanging in space before them._

_* COME TO ME. I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT MUST HAPPEN TO FIX THE GROWING BREACH. YOU WILL HAVE TO CHOOSE *_

_Rose moves to the Sphynx, and is completely enveloped by Her energy. The Sphynx is made of pure love. Everything She sees, touches, creates, and destroys, She loves. Rose is overwhelmed a moment, attempting to process the depth of it all. Taking the gold and coloured strands into herself, Rose see's everything that is, was, or ever could be. The Sphynx focuses Her on the destruction of Chelsea 426. Rose sees the Timelines as they should have been and as they are now. She sees the breach as a gaping hungry fissure in the fabric of space-time, and the rupture is getting bigger. Soon, it could expand to the point where the Universe will accelerate towards it, and all will end. Rose knows what she has to do. She hates it; the Doctor will hate what she needs to do. She has no more choice than the Doctor did when stopping Rassilon. She will do this thing. This breach must be closed._

_Rose pulls back from the Sphynx, their energies still embracing one another. Rose is about to speak when_ -

**-DOCTOR!-**

Crashing back to reality so violently, she's flung from her bed standing; still screaming and clutching her head. Falling to her knees, Rose doesn't hear Jack burst through her door searching for her. Then he's there, holding her shoulders trying to get him to tell her what's wrong. One final agonising scream shakes her, and she collapses against him, sobbing and gasping for breath; her hands digging at her throat.

"Wolf, wolf! What's wrong? What's happened?" he asks frantically.

Jack has no idea what could have prompted her reaction, other than nightmares. Well, in this case, he would have to say night terrors. He never wants to see her so distraught ever again. Feeling protective, he bundles Rose into his arms and carries her to a chair; rocking her and stroking her back, whispering comfort to her. After a few minutes the storm has passed, and she moves to get up; he lets her, but is still wearing a worried expression.

"Was it a nightmare? I...I'm sorry," he says trying to express his sympathy.

Taking a deep breath, to separate her memories from her thoughts, "No it was worse. First I was dreaming…amazing things…beautiful things...then…it was the Doctor, and I was in his mind somehow when he woke up just now. He'd been waiting to feel himself wakening, and pounced at the first opportunity, but something didn't feel right. He's so angry, but then he... my...throat was getting tighter...I couldn't breathe...my head is in a vice...feel Rose...far...pain-PAIN!-"gasping for breath unable to disentangle herself from his memory, Rose sways clutching her head again.

Jack jumps to his feet steadying her.

"I..Thanks. I'm...good. A flash and then blackness, that's all I saw after. Whatever is happening, he's unconscious again." With sickening dread she reaches out for him. He's still far away, but faintly she feels their link. The link is what must have made the shared experience so powerful to pierce even the Vortex. He's definitely alive, but something feels odd about their connection. It feels like it's coming to her in bits and pieces, garbled; like it's filtering to her through a sieve, and she can't get anything to him at all.

Nodding her thanks to Jack, she steps away from him, and realises she's still completely naked...and so is he. Blushing from toes to scalp, she can't even look at him as she just points toward her door. Jack is confused and on the way to being hurt, when he sees her blush. Now chuckling and moving to stand by the door, the handsome man turns again to give Rose a cheeky remark, and catches a face full of pillow instead.

"Out!" she yells at him, readying another pillow. Outright laughing at her now, Jack steps from the room closing the door after him. His laughter continues to reverberate through the halls as he heads back to his room. Moving to the bathroom Rose washes her face and brushes her hair and teeth.  _/Might as well get up, there'll be no going back to sleep after that,/_  she thinks.

She's been out for 3 hours and 12 minutes; that would do her for a couple of days at least. Rose moves to the wardrobe where she picks out what to wear for the day. She picks something for fighting and running, she expects there'll be plenty of both. Thinking of her Doctor again, she sends him wave after wave of her hope, praying that some of them may reach him in whatever awful situation he's currently trapped in. Once dressed she heads to the Kitchen. Tea and toast will at least fortify her in the coming hours, and she needs to talk to Jack.  **  
**

* * *

Twenty or so minutes later, Jack sees Wolf enter the kitchen with an amused half smile on her lips. She's wearing well fitted jeans, worn serviceable black boots, a dark red top, and long black leather coat. Her hair is pulled back, but some has escaped to frame her face. He thinks she's lovely, especially now that he knows whats under all that armour. Deciding to be roguish he lets fly with the flirting.

"Good morning, beautiful! Care for some tea or coffee?" She rolls her eyes, but sits at the table

"Some tea would be lovely. I'll make the toast." Starting to get up Jack waves her back down. He reaches into the bread box, and is pleased it actually has bread in it. Rose is amused by his delight.

"So how do you take your tea? I like mine the same way I like my lovers; sweet and warm," he says with a wink tossed over his shoulder. Snorting at him, she can't hide her grin anymore.

"Jack really, stop it. You know it isn't going to get you anywhere; two sugars and some milk."

Handing her her tea and toast with a jar of plum jam, she gratefully digs in. He leans back against the counter and crosses his arms over his chest.

Whining at her, "I know, I know, you have a mate, but Wolf, I don't understand why I feel all brotherly toward you. Even I wouldn't screw my sister. You're hot, and I'm not bothered. It's...well, it's just not right." With an exasperated huff he joins her at the table with his cup of coffee, and helps with the toast.

Nearly choking on her first piece of toast at the implication of the Doctor being her mate, she suddenly remembers the other 2 or 3 times he's said it. She'd thought he meant mates, you know...friends.

Coughing, "Not mate, just...friends, complicated friends." Getting her breath back, she smiles at Jack nonchalantly, while receiving an incredulous 'ya right' look from Jack. Whatever. She goes back to happily munching toast.

"Look sister, I don't know what line you're telling yourself about that gorgeous man of yours, but I saw you two at dinner, and you were more than… _friendly_."

Devouring one piece of toast and now nibbling on another, Rose looks at him for a long minute. Long enough he starts to squirm under her examination. Finishing her toast, she takes a deep breath.

Looking at Jack again, she cocks her head to the side and says, "Rose."

"What?" He's thoroughly confused. The way she'd been looking at him, he wasn't sure what to think.

"It's my name, Rose. Rose Marion Tyler. I'm from 21st Century Earth, London, UK."

Sitting up straighter, he looks at her first with surprise, then scrutinising her closely he places both hands on the table and calmly asks, "So does this mean you're about to kill me?"

"What?! No! Why on earth would you think that? You daft git. I learned how to do something last night, and I have a feeling I need to be honest with you." Putting her hands in her hair and resting her head in her palms, "I'm going to need your help, and you deserve to know the consequences."

Relaxing now that he isn't facing his imminent demise, he's still very curious. "Okay, so first, you aren't human. I scanned you. I know you're a Time Lord, and that doesn't fit with 21st Century London."

"Oh, that's a long story. Let's see if I can do a concise version…The Doctor and I traveled for a year, I swallowed the Vortex from the TARDIS, wiped out millions of Daleks while possessed by Bad Wolf, that's what it's called, saved...um...saved the Doctor...sort of," (she doesn't really want to start this story from the point where she turned Jack into a fact,) "gave back the Vortex, traveled for another year adventuring, got pulled into a parallel Universe I affectionately call Pete's World, but was cut off from the Doctor, got cancer, was sort of dying, got pulled through the Void and a fissure between Universes by a pan-dimensional elemental being called the Sphynx; that gave a portion of her life-force combined with leftover Bad Wolf energy to turn me into a Time Lord so the Doctor would no longer be alone. Now, we're adventuring again, and I'm learning to be a Time Lady; cool huh?" She's very glad of the respiratory bypass throughout that verbal marathon.

By this point, Jack's eyes are as big as saucers. He couldn't possibly have heard her right…on any of it.

"Okaaaay, so can I ask questions?"

"Yup."

"Soooo, Bad Wolf? You're Bad Wolf."

"Yup, well part of me is. Bad Wolf is too big for me to be, well me, so I access it/her, I guess. I'm working on new info about that as well. Par for the course, that," she says with another charming roll of her eyes.

"Well, where I grew up-"

"The Boeshane Peninsula, 51st Century."

With a semi-suppressed squeak, Jack is sitting up super straight, leaning away from her, and has his eyebrows nearly to his hairline; she can feel his uncertainty.

"Jack, I'm sorry, really. I'm not trying to scare you. Look, I'm going to finish telling you everything, because at a point in the future it won't matter, and it'll be more useful to both if us, you knowing."

"I'm going to die. Is it a good death at least? I've done so much, and I hated some of it. Tell me I died saving people." He looks at her with such sadness and hope, it almost bring tears to her own eyes.

"Yes, well sort of, but no. What is it with you and dying all of a sudden? Oh, come here. Just let me show you."

"You know where I'm from, Bad Wolf is the golden Goddess of life and destruction, a lot like the ancient Hindu Goddess Kali." He needed to get that out before he could pretend to calmly sit next to her.

"Really? I guess I can see that, but it's really complicated."

"Isn't everything," Jack says with a half-smile, trying to recover his composure. Not everyday you share toast with a Goddess.

"So, you keep calling me Jack. I guess I should give you my real name, too." Before he can though, Rose stops him, reaching over to touch his arm. It is such a human gesture, it soothes Jack's nerves.

"No, please I only know you as Jack, and I want to keep it that way. I'm sorry if that's hard for you. I don't think it will be once I show you some Jack TV, courtesy of my memories," she says tapping her own temple. She's hoping her cheeky grin will further put him at ease. She really is going to need his help.

"Jack TV, eh? That's funny. Alright, lay it on me Rosie" he says with a matching smile.

Rose brightens the room with her grin at his familiar nickname. Getting up and placing herself next to him at the table, she reaches for his temple.

"I'm only going to be giving you information, but if there's anything you don't want me to-"

"Ya, ya. Put it behind closed doors. I know the drill. As a Sensitive, we're put through rather rigorous telepathic training when becoming a Time Agent."

"Right! Well, let's get on with it then." Pressing her palm to Jack's temple, she pushes her entire block of Jack memories at him as a solid bundle. He can live them; she doesn't really want to, again. Jack slumps to the table, not unconscious, but not exactly awake either. She arranges his head on his crossed arms, and leaves him to it. With a smile, she ruffles his hair affectionately, and heads to the Console Room.

* * *

Arriving at the Console, Rose starts pulling up information about her first mission. The one she needs to complete before rescuing the Doctor. She hates that she has to do it without him, but knows it would be nearly impossible with him. With a frustrated huff, she buries herself in data and equations. She's trying to see if she can find an alternative to what the Sphynx had shown her hidden somewhere in the flowing numbers and timelines she's pouring over. An hour and 6 minutes later she pulls herself out of her research. Stretching and cracking her back, she's just about to go check on Jack when he stumbles into the room. Turning and leaning back against the Console, unconsciously mirroring the Doctor, Rose watches Jack carefully

"Hello," she says softly. He has a bit of a shell shocked look on his face, and she can understand why.

"Hey. So...you and the Doctor met me just after I ran away from the Agency because they wiped two years of my memories?"

"Yup."

"That isn't happening this time is it? I just started living those two years didn't I, the missing ones; it wasn't the Time Agency that actually wiped those memories."

"Yes, yes, and no?...,I think you have the right of it."

"This is a circular paradox."

Sighing and shifting her weight, "Very good. Yes, it seems it is."

"You'll have to take these memories from me at some point, so you can return me to my proper timeline."

"Yes, exactly. Is that alright?" She's still watching him, and she really wants him to help, but he has to make the choice on his own. If he can't stay, she'll wipe his memory and return him now. She'll figure her way without him if necessary.

Jack is having a rough time reconciling the man he is, with the man he becomes. He likes future him way more than where he is right now. He has no way of knowing which two years future Jack thinks he's lost. What of his current memories will he still have? Wait, idiot. He'll have them all. He will loose everything from the point of meeting Rose on. This meant that he'll have all of his current memories, and is still that happy guy that has this woman and her Doctor as friends in the future. Real friends, too; he can tell by the way she remembers him. She loves him like a big brother, and he doesn't want to lose that; not when adventuring with her and that Doctor fixed him. He'll give anything to feel that…well welcome.

Experiencing her memories at the end though had been hard. He saw that they'd been augmented with scenes Rose couldn't have remembered herself, but he still saw how they played out. It is some consolation though that the final piece is her intense desire to find him, apologise, and fashion a way for him to join up as part of a new trio. Well, he's certainly up for that. He's going to be immortal! Cool!

"Yes. Yes, Rose Tyler, it's more than alright, it's fantastic!" he says, mimicking their first Doctor.

"Great! So do you want to hear the plan? You won't like it, but I can't find any other way. You should also know that once we rescue the Doctor and he finds out what we've done, he's probably going to be mad. Just thought I'd give you fair warning."

"You know, you have a much thicker accent in your memories. Sure, lay it on me. I've seen plenty of ugly; what's the plan."

Snorting at him being so, well him, Rose says, "Ya, when I was pulled through the Void, I regenerated. Doing that in the TARDIS with the Doctor right there made me a...well, a little more Doctor-ish."

"Wow, Time Lords really can change themselves to save their lives. That's an amazing piece of genetic prerogative. Guess I should start believing in the tooth fairy, too?"

Snorting her laughter at him, "Isn't it though, but like much of their current physiology, it was engineered into them. Oh, I say current...well you know what I mean. Did you get that part, about him being the last?"

"Ya. Do I even want to know how?"

"Probably not, but I don't even have the whole story, but there was a war, and he ended it at the cost of all his people and what he thought was all the Daleks."

"We knew the Daleks and Time Lords seemed to have gone missing at about the same time, but that's all we knew. We we're so busy, we didn't really consider looking that gift horse in the mouth. Both races had been a pain in our backsides, and we were just fine ignoring them."

Laughing Rose asks, "I can imagine. So the plan. How do you feel about Sontarans?"

"Sontarans? Well, at the moment I like them even less than the 'not at all' that I previously felt for them."

"Good because we have to kill them."

"Kill them? All of them?!" Jack squeaks this out with his eyebrows raised and an obvious look of horror.

"No, I don't need to commit genocide, but the ones that attacked Chelsea 426 have to go, and we have to kill them before they kill the City."

"Oh, is that all?" It's his turn to roll his eyes at what she makes sound so simple. "And how do you plan to go about that, Rose Tyler?"

Waving her arm in an arc meant to encompass the entire TARDIS, "Magnificent, sentient Time Ship."

The TARDIS hums her amusement at both of them.

**_~My Wolf, I am sorry the Matriarch's plan is so distressing. Time is being rewritten all around me. It is very difficult to see all the paths currently. I will do my best to get us where we need to go.~_ **

_/I know you will, Darling. None of us are excited about this, even the Sphynx was sad that this was the only way. Did you know she was going to help?/_

**_~No! Not until she pulled your dream to her, did I see her involvement.~_ **

Rose can feel that the TARDIS is more frightened by the not knowing, than for any help received from the Matriarch, as Darling thinks of her. Rose doesn't like the idea of anything frightening her beloved TARDIS, and this just adds one more brick to her resolve, that she is making the right choice.

"Right. Let's go find us one Commander Straarl and his bleedin' Mighty 35th Sontaran Battle Fleet."

Turning to the console Rose enters the precise time and space coordinates for near where the fleet should be 24 hours before they attack Chelsea 426.


	14. Diary of a Hidden Time Lord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor talks to himself, welllll Rose, but in his head...well, you get the idea.

**Diary of the Hidden Time Lord**

Day 1 with Crazy Maniac

Hello, Rose! I've decided to talk to you…well,myself really, to save me from listening to the rambling mad man in front of me, and I'm hoping you'll help keep me from doing something stupid; stupid sounds good about now. -sigh-

One time I was kept in an oubliette on Maskar 4 as my third self for 2 days. No fun, and slugs taste awful. Gah, I can still remember the taste, worse even than pears! Now, that's the real burden of the Time Lords; taste memory. Well, anyway I spent the entire time amusing myself by having internal conversations with my first self; he was quite annoyed.

* * *

I've discovered I can hide a portion of my waking mind from the collar and torc. Hooray! It's tenuous, and I have to work very hard to keep it from the collar, but I should be fine as long as I don't let anything make me angry. That's the hard part; very hard.

Ever since  _letting_  me wake up again, I've been tasked with trying to fix this lump he calls a ship, or playing step and fetch-it for the Crazy Maniac. I'm supposed to fix a bloody broken space ship with no impulse stabilisers  _and_  hardly enough power in the inertial dampeners to keep us from becoming bug smears every time we change direction, and then I'm supposed to fix it WHILE WE'RE IN SPACE!? Moron.

* * *

Of course, I did scare him when I initially awoke all Oncoming Storm, but I didn't have a chance to get to the good part before his little electronic pets had me out cold. Quite clever really, combining a Huduct slave torc and a 51st Century sex collar. Annoyingly, this combination does keep my telepathy locked up. I would almost consider it brilliant, except that I'm here, and I'm going to escape. Just you wait and see you weird bugger.

* * *

The swearing! I use colourful language, but where no one can hear me except the TARDIS, who's a little prim, herself. This guy makes my ears bleed. If I hear one more….no no no, don't get excited now, this is all I've got and I can't risk the electronics finding it. Did he kiss his grandmother with that mouth? Really?! Rose, you'd have smacked him into next Tuesday already. I am so glad you aren't here, though I wish I knew where you were, your message didn't say.

* * *

Rose, Rose, Rose, what  _am_  I ever going to do with you. I can think of several perfectly brilliant things to do to...Ow! What was that for you cheeky…deep breath, deep breaths. OOOhhhhh! Put my sonic down; it isn't a toy! Yuck, Rose, don't look.

* * *

Huducts, Huducts….They sound so familiar…..I know I have more information in this big brain somewhere. Dig, dig...dig, dig, dig! Ha! I am sooo clever! Here it is. Okaayy, so neither they nor the Anubians were actually telepathic, not even particularly sensitive. Let's see, what else...Oh yes! Hormonal controls! Gotchya! The torc reads chemical changes in the blood and skin. No wonder the cursed thing itches. I've got little alien feelers in my head, ew.

Now that changes things, as far as the torc is concerned, easy-peesey. This idgit has no idea that this torc is thousands of years old. Molto bene! I can get out of it. The collar on the other hand is much higher-tech, far newer, and designed with telepathy in mind, which would be why I can't find our 'link'.

Hit me one more time, you arse, and I'll... OWW! Gah….sorry...sorry...sorry...no not again, no never, of course, whatever you want, no never again…

* * *

Day 2 with Crazy Maniac

Almost to Mars Rose, and I might just have figured out how to get around the collar. It helps that the Crazy Maniac needs to sleep; even more so since he's injured. It must be bad, I started smelling it last night. Those casts are only meant to be on a few hours, then your supposed to get medical treatment. He's really driving me barmy; keeps going on deliriously about some dead mate. Luckily he hasn't asked my name. He'd think I'd help, ha! Not likely as this point. At least I've been able to get the food replicator to work. A bunch of buttons were smashed, but at least it gives me nutrient bars, and would you believe it they're banana!

* * *

Mars is much closer, he turned us around this morning, and we've begun decelerating. I think we're going to crash. I've been trying to get the inertial dampeners working more efficiently, but the energy transference points are completely fried, and he only lets me work when he's awake. Whether he has spares or not is moot, since the hatch to replace them is OUTSIDE. Moron!

* * *

Right, the collar; you'd be particularly impressed with how clever I am on this one, Rose. Now lucky for me, I'm a Time Lord with an enormous brain, which makes me not only brilliant, but  _special_. I've set up partitions; one for the collar, and one for the torc. It isn't quite full proof, yet. I only figured out I could do it 3 hours and 46 minutes ago. I'm currently creating a 2 hour loop of meek obedience for the collar to pay attention to. The torc, was easy. I've been keeping it happy since I figured out the hormone thing yesterday; impressive, me.

* * *

Oh Rose, I'll be free of this soon. Should have kissed you years ago. God I was stupid.

* * *

Look, Rose…he's waking up again….oh are you out of pains meds...poor thing…poor crazy thing. Wish you would shut up about this dead friend of yours...geez! Good thing you're projecting loud enough for the mining crew on Deimos to hear you. You still think you have me. Well, you don't have me. I have me, and...

What was that? What did you just say or think or whatever? — _Sontarans_?—What?!—Chelsea 426 go  **BOOM**!-MATE!  ** _MY_**  MATE IS DEAD?!YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT ROSE—ROSE!  _OH,GOD!_ I WILL END YOU! THIS WILL BE OVER. YOU HEAR ME—OVER! OVER! OVER! AHHHHHHhhhhhhhh—

* * *

Day 3 with Crazy Maniac

Oh Rose, it seems stupid to keep talking to you, but I can't seem to help it. Anyway, we've crashed. I don't care; knew we would. We've been here for hours, so I can only assume we won't blow up…bugger it all. I can't see much. I knew the inertial dampeners would fail on reentry. I wanted to kill him. I didn't though; he's too pathetic to kill. I strapped him to his seat, a gibbering mess. The infection in his leg has made him even crazier. I  _was_  able to rip the torc's control unit off his head while he was thrashing around. Unfortunately, I should have taken the torc off myself first. The feedback knocked me for a loop for 89 precious seconds. I almost didn't make it to the still locked down cryo-pod. It had leaked all it gas out in the last three days, but it still locked closed. I've no idea how much oxygen I have or are getting. My loop on the collar is working…more or less…not that it matters….you aren't there to reach for.

Everything I should have said to you; everything I should have done. Rose, I know you wouldn't forgive me if I die now; nope, no forgiving. Wait, can't forgive. Getting tired. Low on oxygen….just let me die. No Rose, no life. Need you, Rose. Must find...oh Rose. ROSE!…ROSE!…rose...ro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halfway through! I hope you're enjoying it. Please review if you feel inclined; I'd love to know your thoughts. Thanks! :-)


	15. Something from Nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack has a good think and flirts with the TARDIS while Rose tries out a new skill with varying levels of success.

**15 Something from Nothing**

Looking away from the view-screen for Jack, Rose sees him on the Jump seat, thinking intently.

"I've got them. The TARDIS has located the position of the fleet. She says that it will take some Time to get there though. All the disruptions to the time-streams are causing storms in the Vortex, and it will take her a bit to navigate them. I need to go work on some things, and the TARDIS has opened all her doors to you, now that you're family again," she says with a smile, knowing he'll be pleased.

She's right. His answering grin dims the Console lights.

"Thanks, Rosie!" he says leaning back and patting a strut, "and thank  **you** , you sexy thing!" The TARDIS dims her lights and Rose would swear she actually hummed a blush at him.

That's Jack; the impossible Lover.

With a wave, she heads deep into the TARDIS.

_/You shameless flirt!/_

The TARDIS  **is**  blushing!

**_~The Lover is-well he is very sweet to us all~_ **

Laughing to herself Rose stops teasing Darling, and gets down to business.

_/I need to practice the Spherical Gallifreyan the Sphynx showed me. Can you make me a room appropriate for that?/_

**_~Of course, my Wolf. Please keep it simple. I do not currently have the energy to expand the room to hold anything too large.~_ **

_/Understood, I'll keep it small, if I can make it happen at all./_

Finding a door open, Rose steps through it and into an enormous domed interior done in dark gold with padded hexagonal tiles on the walls. The light is coming from everywhere at once.

_/Well, this is interesting. I assume it is significant?/_

**_~Yes. The tiles are designed to help you focus the mental energies, and the padding if to keep you safe should anything go...astray.~_ **

Humming her acceptance to Darling, Rose readies herself. The Sphynx has given her what she needed to know, but the practical experience of getting there is lacking. Taking several deep breathes, she focuses inward. Not in the same way as she would to access her Foyer, but deeper, much deeper. She's looking for Bad Wolf.

Ever since her conversation with the Sphynx in the Zero room after her regeneration, she could feel Bad Wolf. Usually just in the back of her mind, but sometimes when she was really angry or frightened, she could feel the power building in her, looking for release. Now, since her dream where she was surrounded by Bad Wolf and had shared Her power, she feels it shifting in the back of her mind like another being. Rose senses Her, and she is reminded of herself, the TARDIS, and the Sphynx. It feels like Bad Wolf is becoming her own entity; sharing her reality with Rose's.

Rose thinks about her dream. How it felt to be enveloped in that kind of power; how the power itself felt-its taste. Tracing that, she reaches a door deep within herself. She can see wisps of golden light lapping at the seams. On it's surface is carved the words Bad Wolf.

 _/Of course they are,/_ Rose thinks to herself. _/At least I'm consistent./_  With a smile she steps forward to touch the door, but is stopped by Darling.

**_~My Wolf, NO!~_ **

_/Ow! What? What's wrong? I need Bad Wolf to do the Spherical Gallifreyan, right?/_

**_~Yes and no. You need her energy, but you do not need the entirety of Bad Wolf. You need to build an Interface between you both. If you open that door and take Her in all at once you would burn, and my Thief is not here to save you. She is still too…unstable.~_ **

Rose sends Darling a wave of gratitude for stopping her. Thinking back on what she learned from the Sphynx in her dream, she recalls a portion that she didn't understand, a merged sharing focus, that confused her.

_/Is this the Interface?/_

Rose mentally shows Darling the portion of the Sphynx's instructions that had confused her. She just assumed she'd figure it out in process; the way she normally does things.

**_~Yes, my Wolf. That is it exactly. You need to be a lens for Bad Wolf to focus through, but you must build the Interface to channel the energy correctly.~_ **

_/Right. So the Interface…what is it and how do I build it?/_

**_~It is me, and you sing it into being.~_ **

Darling then shows her how the portion of her Heart that Rose retains was part of the original Interface that kept Bad Wolf from devouring Rose instantly the first time around. All that singing in her head had been the TARDIS trying to save Rose until the Doctor could do something, and also allowed Rose to channel all that power to complete the tasks she and Bad Wolf had designed, starting with Satellite 5 and culminating at Dårlig ulv Stranden with the Sphynx.

_/Wow, thank you. I hadn't realised it was so complicated. Okay, I sing it, sing what?/_

**_~Your intentions; like in your dream. It does not matter what you sing, only that it contains your intent. You sing it because part of you and I are one, therefore you are able to utilise a similar Interface. The Time Lords would call it Block Transfer Computations, only your maths are music.~_ **

Rose knows what Block Transfer Computations are. She's been studying them in her research into space-time manipulations and temporal physics. The ability to create using just math is a heady notion, but daunting. Music she understands. Music is in her blood, and now apparently it is more than a euphemism. Grinning, Rose feels she has more of a handle on what's expected of her. Taking a deep breath, she prepares herself, when suddenly a thought strikes her.

_/Darling, is this how you_ **_manifest_ ** _whatever it is we need—tea, extra furniture, the redecorating-through musical maths?/_

**_~Yes, my Wolf.~_ **

Darling can feel Rose's surprise and comprehension. Delighted, she wraps Rose in a warm melodic hug.

_/Wow, okay. I think I got it. One more question, though. Do I need to be in here to…manifest, or can I do it from outside myself?/_

**_~Now that you know what it feels like to gather the energy, and where it comes, you must practise accessing it from outside. We will not have this much time when you need to utilise this power.~_ **

Pulling herself back to the domed room, is a bit of a shock. It had felt like a long time in her mind, but the entire conversation she'd just had with the TARDIS has taken only 2 minutes and 27 seconds. Excited to try out this new ability, Rose can't help but giggle to herself. The Doctor is going to go completely mental when he finds out. So, without a trace of lingering apprehension, Rose begins her practice.

* * *

Jack tries to go exploring, but he gets stuck in the Library. There are so many thoughts and images in his head that he needs more time to process them, and this is the perfect place. Walking over to a chair and small table near the window, he sits and watches the first and larger of Gallifrey's two suns rise. He's transfixed by the view as the night recedes and he can really see where he is…or rather how…it's rather confusing. What he can see outside the window should in no way exist in a ship of any kind; it makes his head hurt. This ship, Rose, the Doctor, his ex-partner; it's a lot to take in on top of a year's worth of memories that aren't even his filling his head. The memories are all from Rose's perspective, so it really is like watching Jack TV.

"Jack Harkness"—he likes it, and wonders where it came from. He's very amused at how cheekily he played Rose and the Doctor off each other. He must have received a 'the blonde is mine' conversation from this first Doctor at some point, because the way he starts interacting with both of them changes after that trip to Russia. It is enlightening and frustrating to have the other person's side of the story. Jack really wants to know more about his relationship with the Doctor, but Rose slept a lot back then. No wonder the Doctor keeps teasing her about it. Seeing Rose and the Doctor fall in love through her memories of himself is adorable. Everything was pink and happy and fun, not that there wasn't terror and grief. The nano-infested gas mask people, and that unpleasantness on Arkannis Major. He didn't look forward to experiencing that adventure from his own perspective; Rose's is bad enough.

Family. Rose just called him "family". He hasn't been part of a family for years. He can hardly remember what one feels like. Anytime he thinks of family, images of battles, his father dead, his mother broken, and Gray, his little brother screaming and then lost; fill his mind. That's all he had to pull from.

There's nothing about the Time Agency that makes him think of family. It's an Agency cloaking itself in secrecy to cover its own agendas based in self preservation. He can only imagine what they are thinking of the Chelsea 426 episode. 2500 years in the future, is a long time, Jack wonders if the shifting timelines affects anyone he knows. It doesn't appear he will ever know. He wonders whether he should be upset about that thought or not...he isn't.

What he's upset about is his partner. Jack thought he  _knew_  him. Sure, he wasn't always the best partner on the job, but he was always solid when everything went to shit. He never shied away from the difficult jobs, and you could always count on him in a firefight. Plus, he'd been a lively if somewhat unimaginative lover. When you were stuck on a mission for weeks or months it was nice to always have a familiar face to return to.

The constant side jobs, the trafficking in black market antiquities; Jack tried to overlook John's indiscretions, but this was over the top. John couldn't have any idea of the shitstorm he was flirting with. Hell, Jack had breakfast today with the physical manifestation of a Goddess he grew up reading about; so, who knew.

 _/Yup; fiery, death, destruction, and shitstorm, Johnny-boy. You only_ ** _thought_** _you were having a bad day before,/_ Jack thinks at his far away partner.

As Jack contemplates the changes in his personal universe, the TARDIS kindly manifests a cup of coffee for him on the little table nearby. Jack is so intent on the view and his pondering that it takes a couple of minutes for the delicious scent wafting his way to have an impact. Once it does, his head snaps to the side, eyes startled. Picking up the cup, he first sniffs it, and then takes a tentative sip. With a groan of pleasure he takes a more substantial drink.

"Oh you gorgeous creature! This is perfect, thank you!" he enthuses. "And to think I ever spoke sweetly to the food replicator. Where have you been all my life?"

He says this entirely out loud to the TARDIS who is intensely amused with him. She hums her appreciation and makes him a plate of biscuits as well. She always did like the Lover. He never hit her with the mallet, and he was always so—flattering. He could stay as long as he liked as far as she was concerned. In a burst of inspiration, She decides to redecorate his room for him.

* * *

A couple of hours pass with Jack deep in thought and enjoying his snack. The TARDIS begins gently pushing at Jack's mind, trying to prod him to seek out Rose. She needs Jack to see what Rose is doing; what she is and is not capable of. Being afraid of her will not help the upcoming ordeal. Rose also needs to learn to focus under stress. What better way to do than to do it under observation. It doesn't take too long, before he thinks it would be a great Idea to see what Rose is up to.

 **~ _Finally_!~ ** thinks the TARDIS. Merrily, she eventually deposits Jack at the door to the room Rose is working in.

As Jack reaches the door to a room he's pretty sure the TARDIS is pointing at, he thinks he can hear Rose singing. It doesn't have words, but is a startlingly complex series of notes that makes his hair stand on end. Listening for a moment, Jack is about to enter when he hears a crash and swearing on the other side of the door. He assumes it's swearing—the TARDIS isn't translating it. Pushing through the door quickly, he see's Rose in the centre of a huge golden domed room surrounded by bits and pieces of debris. Half a shoe here, rocks everywhere, some broken tea cups, and lots of dust; some gold and some not. Gazing towards the swearing Rose, he sees she also is covered in gold dust, looking disgruntled and bending over to retrieve a half-formed.…teapot?

"Rose?" he isn't sure what to think with her all sparkly, but he calls out anyway.

Noticing him for the first time, she's shocked out of her concentration and drops the half-formed teapot to the floor where it bursts into golden light and some more dust. "Jack! I didn't hear you. Ummmm, so what's up?" she says sheepishly.

He isn't sure if she's embarrassed about being caught swearing up an untranslatable blue streak, or the business with the teapot. "Hey Rosie. I think the TARDIS wanted me to come find you. What are you doing? This is all a bit.…weird."

"Ya, weird," she agrees as she unhappily throws herself to the floor in a cross-legged heap. "Well, where to start? Last night I dreamed…" she relates the entire story of the creative and learning filled dream as well as the information the TARDIS had given her. He joins her on the floor in a somewhat clean spot and is understandably much more impressed with the debris around him now that he knows what it is.

"So what seems to be the problem? There are definitely recognisable pieces laying around." He leans over grabbing a piece of broken teacup, as he asks this. The process of picking it up is enough to crush it into dust and a smaller burst of light. Surprised he shakes his hand clean letting the dust fall to the floor.

"That's the problem; nothing is stable enough. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong." Picking up a small rock she crushes it in her palm with similar effects. "It's so frustrating. So much depends on me doing this," she says as she starts to cry; tears of frustration rolling down her cheeks leaving streaks through the gold dust. Sliding across the floor to reach her, he hugs her to his side, and thinks about what he's learned.

"Rosie, I don't think you're the problem. I think your 'song' is incomplete," he says slowly working it out in his head. "You said that you  **and**  the Sphynx created that planetary system in your dream, and implied that you and the Doctor were going to have to work together to fix the breach. What if you need more voices?"

"Jack you're brilliant, you are! But wait, the Sphynx was able to do it alone." After a moment of excitement her face fell again.

Bumping shoulders with her Jack replies, "The Sphynx is a pan-dimensional elemental being, and you're not…even channelling Bad Wolf like you are. You're cool, but you're not  _that_  cool," he finishes with a wink hoping to cheer her up.

It works, she chuckles at him. "Well, then, mister you're all I have…can you sing?" Rose says this with more of her usual humour.

"Rosie, can I sing? That's like asking a duck if it can swim! I had an undercover assignment one time wear I hid in the middle of an American Barbershop Quartet in the 50's, The Lads of Enchantment. We won an award in 1957. You tell me what you need, and I'm your guy!" he's so enthusiastic, she has to grin at him in return.

"Weelll, I think you're right that I'm missing the chords that would complete the Manifestation." She's re-energised for the project with his spot on suggestion. Standing and reaching a hand down to Jack, she pulls him to his feet, "Want to try it with me?"

With matching grins they prepare themselves for what they might be able to do together. Jack realises he is already having more fun, than he's had in years.

* * *

If Darling could sigh with relief, she would. She had really needed the Lover and her Wolf to reach these conclusions, but they had to get there on their own. Some things must be learned, and all the Timelines showing success needed them to figure this out themselves. Relaxing a bit, she continues watching their progress keeping her amusement at their near misses hidden, but enjoying the developing camaraderie that their success will hinge on. She'll let them know how proud she is of them when they've finished. They'll be reaching their destination soon, at which point, there will be very little time for fun.


	16. You Shall Not Pass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Vortex is being tetchy, but disaster is avoided and we catch up to the Sontarrans.

**16 You Shall Not Pass**

Four hours, 22 minutes, and 36 seconds later, they are in the Kitchen enjoying fresh tea and sandwiches on the dishes they had made in the Music Room, as they've taken to calling it. Thinking a Music Room sounds very posh and royal, Rose and Jack are having their lunch with affected blue-blood accents, lifted pinkies, and much giggling.

With a final, "We are not amused Jack Harkness, with your attempts at hilarity," from Rose; Jack completely loses it, and is holding his sides laughing.

"Oh Rosie, stop. My sides hurt!"

"Well, it serves you right, for making me drop the last bite of my sandwich into my lap," she answers with a tongue-in-tooth grin. He hopes he sees Rose this happy every day he has with her. Just seeing her like this soothes wounds of his own that he didn't even know existed.

Rose catches her own breath and with a smile, watches Jack as he gathers up their newly minted dishes taking them to the sink to wash. She's amazed at the changes his aura has gone through, and he hasn't even been in the TARDIS for 24 hours yet. More and more of his soft red is showing through, and much of the brown and black has receded or lightened, and there's no green of fear.

He had been instrumental in helping her with the Manifestations. He could really sing, it had been a joy harmonising with him. It took them a little bit to hit their stride, but he could sense where she was going musically, and had a good feel for what she needed. He brought the lower end of the scale to the soundscape, and with it she was able to weave that solidity into her golden spheres as she wrote her intent in the air before them. The latter successes were exciting and she was feeling much more confident about her abilities to do what was needed when they met the Sontarans.

Except, working the Spherical Gallifreyan is taxing, even to her advanced physiology. She can see the exhaustion in the set of Jack's shoulder, and the yawns he's stifling with his back to her. Just managing to cover up her own yawns, she gets up and helps Jack finish. When they put everything away, she gives him a long and thankful hug.

"What's that for, Rosie?" Jack asks. He doesn't want her stop, but she's putting a lot into this hug.

"I couldn't have done it without you today. Thanks for being so willing to help, and for finding the key to making it work," she says stepping back and leaning against the counter.

"Well, that was definitely one of the most unique experiences of my life, and I wouldn't have missed it. Can you imagine what we could do if the Doctor sang with us during a Manifestation?" he asks, joining her in leaning against the counter shaking his head, "With you two building the Spheres for the Intent, and me bolstering the soundscape, who knows what we could accomplish."

With another yawn, and a stretch he turns to Rose not noticing her wide-eyed look; kissing her lightly on the forehead, "I'm off to bed. It's been amazing, but it sure takes it out of a mere human like myself." With a grin and a wave he heads to his room.

The startled look on Rose's face has now shifting to thoughtful as she contemplates that depth of possibilities that Jack's off hand statement has elicited. Reaching for Darling, Rose asks,

_/Did you know about all of this? The Doctor, Jack, and I working together with Manifestations, like this?/_

**_~Yes, and no, my Wolf. I see everything all the time. It is navigating those tracks that takes up so much attention. There are so many choices to make, always, and each choice creates many new avenues. So yes, I saw this as a possibility, but it was not the one I was navigating for when I took us to Chelsea 426. There are many Timelines where meeting Jack "now" does not happen and it IS the Time Agency that wipes his memory. Those timelines are now closed, and that will not happen. The Timelines that show this Circular Paradox are fewer, but also contain the potentials for even greater possibilities and chances for even greater disasters. I must walk us through this very carefully.~_ **

_/Well, that's cheerful,/ Rose snorts at Darling._

**_~Oh my Wolf, I have faith in you, my Thief, and the Lover. The three of you together can be so much more, and the potentials available are staggering. So much possibility, but it is a fine line, and some portions are not…pleasant, but they are unavoidable.~_ **

_/Cryptic, I hate cryptic!/_ Feeling Darling about to apologise, Rose stops her, _/No, it's okay. I understand. I know how this works now, but I'm just so worried about the Doctor, and having Jack with us. How the Doctor is going to react to him being here, how the Doctor is going to feel about me shifting Timelines…There's just so much! /_

**_~My Wolf, you are not alone, and soon we will have my Thief back. He needs you. You should rest now. We will be arriving soon.~_ **

Nodding and murmuring her thanks to Darling, Rose heads down the hall to her room. She is so tired. Tomorrow will bring answers, and hopefully will bring them to the Doctor. Getting ready for bed and being asleep is only a matter of minutes tonight, and this time her dreams only contain the usual adventures-happier days with her Doctor.

* * *

4 hours, 45 minutes, and 13 seconds later Rose is awoken to the sound of the Cloister Bells and the TARDIS being tossed around like a piece of flotsam in a flood. Scrambling to get dressed and make it to the Console Room in one piece, Rose tries to reach Darling.

_/What the hell is happening? It's never been this rough in the bedrooms before?/_

**#Vortex Storm/MUST get through#**

Rose receives this in much the same way as the Doctor, a series of images, and feelings. Darling is obviously completely involved with trying to keep them safe, and can't interface with Rose the way she normally does. The images of a giant storm in the heaving Vortex outlined with angry colour, and lightening fills Rose with dread. It's a nearly solid mass of writhing black and swirling colours, punctuated by eye-searing purple lightning. It pulsates in a way that almost makes it feel alive, and that 'thing' is keeping them from leaving the Vortex, and that isn't going to happen. She has her man to save, and no force of Nature, no matter how alien, is going to keep her from doing it.

As she reaches the Console, Jack comes spilling out of the hallway, as well. Reaching for a handhold on the Console across from her, he asks how to help. This whole situation reminds him clearly of the landings with their first Doctor from Rose's memories. Trying bravely to hang on with one hand, the other flipping switches and working controls, she calls out instructions to Jack. She finally gets the correct sequence, and they drive themselves into the heart of the Storm. Just as they reach an intensity she's sure will tear them apart, Rose drops them straight out of the Vortex and into Space. The sudden change in fields throws them to the floor and cracks a couple of Coral arches, but they're now steady in space. Rose and Jack pick themselves up from the grating, checking for injuries in a fine dusting of aggrieved Coral bits. Jack has a small cut above his left eye and Rose has a bruised knee and shoulder from falling against the jumpseat.

"Are you alright?" she calls to Jack.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. What the hell was all that? I was having the best dream, and then I was kissing a rug. The TARDIS redecorated my room by the way. Very cool!" He doesn't look too bad off, and just related all that with his typical smile; so he'll be fine.

"The TARDIS said there was a storm in the Vortex that was blocking the wormhole out to our destination, and she couldn't avoid it. So I flew us right into its teeth, then turned of the Vortex stabilisers which dropped us into regular space…abruptly. Sorry about that," she explains as she looks into the view-screen, seeing where they ended up.

"Oh, well that's not too bad. We're the day prior to the fleet's arrival in Sol system, but we're in a whole other galaxy. Luckily only time travel involves the Vortex. We should be able to hop in linear space without too much issue…I hope." Rose realises that she isn't really sure, looking up at the cracked coral struts and the dust.

"I don't think I like it when you aren't sure Rose. Is there anything we can do to help? I'm pretty handy with repairs," Jack offers in case they need him. He hates feeling useless.

_/Darling? Are you alright? That was awfully exciting./_

**_~Yes my Wolf, I will be fine. Several connections and couplings have come loose, and the Lover can help with those. If he comes beneath the Console, I will show him. Also, I need some time to heal the struts that cracked. I am sorry, but we should have plenty of Time still. You are correct that once repaired, the spacial jump will cause no further problems.~_ **

_/I'm so glad! I was worried when you couldn't talk to me earlier./_

Rose's deeper connection to the TARDIS usually gives her a sense of how she is feeling, but everything she is picking up now is tinged with an unhappy orange of exhaustion. Darling is tired, and it worries Rose.

Sending waves of sympathy and understanding Rose relates to Jack what the TARDIS needs him to do. The TARDIS does not mention that she too had been worried when she couldn't talk to Rose the way they usually do. She needs a trip to Cardiff, or she will soon have to convert some rooms for power.

* * *

It takes them 16 hours and 22 minutes to get the TARDIS fixed, and for her to determine her struts sound again. Compressing storage areas, and collapsing a couple of the recreation rooms, Darling is feeling a little better, and they're ready to go. Inputting the altered coordinates to include the correct galaxy for their destination, Rose throws the dematerialisation switch. They fade out of one black star-spangled expanse of space to materialise in another, this one filled with a marvellous view of blue Neptune.

"Alright Jack. Are you ready to do this?" Rose needs to ask him one more time.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm here for you," he replies with a resolved smile of support.

"I have to give them a choice Jack. I can't just end them without giving them an option. I learned that from the Doctor. It has to be their decision." Rose knows how the Sontarans will reply, but she couldn't live with herself if she just murdered them.

"They're Sontaran Rose," Jack says softly. "They don't know how to choose any other option."

"I know."

"Well, let's do this then."

With a sigh Rose 'calls' Commander Straarl.

"Commander Straarl of the 35th Sontaran Battle Fleet. This is Rose Tyler, and I demand you cease your advance on Chelsea 426."

Commander Straarl comes up on the screen. She can't tell if he looks surprised or not. Clones, they take all the fun out of everything.

"Human girl. Do not interfere or we will blow your puny vessel from space."

"I am not human, Commander Straarl. I am a Time Lord, and you will not be allowed to continue if you do not leave now. This is your last chance, or I will destroy you and your entire fleet. Go. Home." Rose's eyes turn gold, as she taps into Bad Wolf and allows her to slide forward.

"Puny, insulting human! We are the Mighty 35th Sontaran Battle Fleet! We will not Go. Home. We…"

"ENOUGH!" Rose shouts at the screen. She has had too much fear and heartsache, to allow him to bully her further, and Bad Wolf will not tolerate it. Commander Straarl ends the communication and immediately begins firing weapons at her and the TARDIS.

"This is over." Rose's voice now has an echo to it, and she's starting to bleed gold dust.

"Jack, do you trust me?" Rose/Bad Wolf asks taking his hand and catching his gaze with hers.

"Yes, with everything," he adds in case she needs it.

"Hold on…to me," she says to him with an inhuman and feral smile as he comes closer.

Walking to the TARDIS doors, she throws them open. Wrapping herself and Jack in gold dust she steps out into nothing, pulling Jack along. Rose/BadWolf strides out as if there is solid footing and so there seems to be. About twenty meters from the TARDIS she turns to face the oncoming barrage. Placing Jack's hand on her shoulder Rose/Bad Wolf starts the first chord, and lifting her arms begins drawing the circles for what she wants.

Tapping into their working rapport, Jack understands she requires more complexity, and starts improvising to support her needs. Nodding, Rose continues writing; drawing circles and arches of many sizes, some mere outlines and others nearly opaque. Looking through the amber-coloured disks, Jack can see the missiles and energy discharges that are headed straight for them. With a last sweep of her arm, she turns the words edge on. Pausing, and definitely not thinking about how they're hovering space, he continues adding to Rose's harmonies. Breathing more power into her Song the words become shining translucent spheres of melodic intent. Setting them in motion through and around each other, her and Jack's Song reaches a crescendo as she sends their intentions screaming back toward the Sontarans.

As soon as that set of intentions is on its way they begin crafting the next. This one is many abstracts, and blended ideas. They are not building objects this time, but concepts. Feeling as if she has the support of the Sphynx in her mind, Rose accesses more of Bad Wolf.

Bad Wolf knows what needs to be done, but she also sees the opportunity Rose is considering. Reaching into her pocket, Rose/Bad Wolf pulls out a few small very black pebbles about the size of a peach pits.

* * *

Earlier, Rose had come from her shower while Jack was napping and found the small pile of stones on her night stand.

 _/What are these Darling?/_ Picking one up she's surprised by how heavy they are compared to their size.

**_~They are the tears the Sphynx wept when I spoke of the destruction caused by the Time War and the deaths of my sisters, her children. They store energy.~_ **

She then shows Rose what she means in a series of images and impressions outlining their possible uses in the future depending on what happens today. Rose immediately sees their potential, but still hates that destructive forces have to be used. She will give the Sontarans a chance, even though it's foolish to think they'll take it. Pocketing the stones she heads to the Console Room, ready for battle.

* * *

Now, Rose/Bad Wolf takes the stones, seeding the intentions of Her next Song around them. Looking up, they watch as the first wave of their assault has devoured all of the weapons sent toward them. Rose/Bad Wolf can sense the disbelief coming from the Sontarans, but there's a manic need to revenge themselves on this puny creature. She feels the insensible fury from all of them. Not a single Sontaran wants to do anything, but make her pay for her insult. They aren't afraid now, and they probably won't ever be.

Grimly, Rose/Bad Wolf and Jack push all of themselves into the final Manifestation of their intentions. Setting the seeded spheres in motion with her hands and thoughts, she releases them rushing outward and the final fate of the entire Sontaran fleet comes barreling through Space for them. Being merciful, they don't ever know what hit them.

Rose/Bad Wolf and Jack continue singing their Song toward the fleet, bolstering its power. As the first golden seeded chords reach the fleet a wave of bright gold swallows each ship; reaching for those that attempt to move away. As the ships are enveloped, they cease to be. All the potential energy that they once possessed is channeled into the Tears. Finally, they allow the chord to fade away as the last bit of energy is sent into the last of the Tears.

Hanging there, in now empty space, Rose feels the fabric of space-time convulse as that Timeline collapses and this one takes its place. They are at the epicentre, as the waves speed away from them changing the Universe behind them. Rose starts experiencing the disconcerting feeling of having a new set of memories added to the ones she already has. The new memories are not substantially different; the Doctor is still taken. They still don't reach him on time, and he is still borne away by that lunatic. For her and Jack the only difference is no Sontarans destroying Chelsea 426. She knows thousands of people will have no idea that they just came back to life, and their lovely City will be around for another couple of centuries.

Still wrapped in their cocoon of gold the trio hear the TARDIS calling to them. The established rapport lets even Jack hear her Song, and feel the pull as she reminds them that they are not elemental beings in total, and they must return to the safety of the TARDIS. The part that is Rose understands, and wants to go back, she's so very tired. The part that is Jack is exhausted and nearly unconscious. Bad Wolf is pleased with the outcome. Reaching out with more of her golden tendrils she draws the now cooled Tears to her. Turning away from the empty space that once held a fleet of starships, they walk back to the TARDIS on a path made of golden light and thought alone.

Upon reaching the grating, the TARDIS encourages Bad Wolf to let go. Rose is almost too tired to even help. But she does by drawing the golden energy back into herself, and returning it to its place behind her inner door again, thanking Bad Wolf. The Tears, previously floating around her drop to the floor in oddly dull heavy little thumps. Slumping to her knees on the grating, Rose hangs her head a moment. She's incredibly tired, not only physically, but emotionally. It hurt her to have the Sontarans reject her so fully. It hurt to destroy them utterly. It hurt to know how easy it is to commit such an atrocity. She knows it's for the good of the entire Universe, but it had been her choice to follow through. She would make the same one again, but she suddenly understands her Doctor better, and that too makes her tired.

With a groan she stands and turns looking for Jack. He's slumped on the grating near her. She feels a flicker of panic, but upon touching him, she knows he's only sleeping. Getting an arm under his shoulder, she's able to manoeuvre him up the ramp and to his room. Being stronger as a Time Lord does have its uses, but he's still heavy. Darling helpfully pulls his room to the front, and Rose steps in depositing him on his bed. She's much too tired to notice the efforts that the TARDIS went to for Jack's room. On her way back out she palms the light off, and pauses in the Control Room.

_/Are we good Darling? I think I may need to sleep a full night tonight, before we retrieve the Doctor. I can't hardly see right now, and my head feels funny. Can we get back to the Vortex?/_

**_~I am afraid not, my Wolf. It will still be in too much turmoil. The portal will not be accessible for a few linear days yet, as things calm down.~_ **

_/Right. Well, I'll start looking for him when I wake up then. It can't be too hard. There should only be so many places a broken ship can go./_

Receiving a warm mental hug from Darling, Rose sees her room is now the one at the front, and she gratefully steps inside. Discarding her clothing across the floor on her way to the bed, Rose pushes her way beneath the covers, and is asleep before she can even root around for the Doctor's pillow. She is still covered in a fine layer of gold dust. Since her body and mind can now rest, Rose slips into a deeper healing coma. Damage was done to her brain channeling that much of Bad Wolf through it. With Rose's consciousness buried deep in the healing coma, a strand of Bad Wolf comes out and helps her brain structures heal themselves. She nudges here and there to create a better platform for the Interface. She and her Rose have much left to do, and this will help. Satisfied with the alterations she slides back into her space, content to wait for the next task.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Felt like poop yesterday and completely forgot to update. SO sorry. Therefore there will be two chapters today, yippee! :-)


	17. Schrodinger's Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two possible Timelines, which one will it be when we finally reach the Doctor?

**Schrodinger's Doctor**

 

**17A Yes, master**

The Doctor is woken abruptly, instantly aware. He's more careful this time; he stays slumped over the edge of the open pod. He feels a nauseating duplication of memories, and the fog caused by a collapsed timeline that he's already lived. Collapsed timeline; what happened? His time-sense tells him only a minute has passed since he reared up out of the cryo-pod bent on destruction only to be laid low, by… a torc on his head…and there's some sort of collar around his neck. Processing the memories he unfortunately knows exactly what the hell is going on this time.

"I know you're awake," states a soft masculine voice from the Doctor's right. "Sit up, now." The Doctor has no control over his motions as his muscles pay no attention to what he wants, and he sits up. The collar warms against his neck, but does nothing. "Look at me," the man demands. The Doctor hates being ordered around, and starts to argue with his body this time. As his head turns towards his kidnapper agonisingly slow, the Doctor grits his teeth, actively fighting the impulse. This time the collar blinks yellow, and shocks him. He's so surprised, he cries out, and his head whips to the side where he's looking into the dark eyes of a sandy-haired man. It takes his befuddled mind an extra second to supply the information, but he knows this man; just not a healthy version.

The Doctor desperately tries to separate the current timeline from the memories of the one that is now gone. This man, John Hart, is uninjured, and perfectly in control of himself. The Doctor is unsure if that will be better or not. So far, other than the lack of injuries, the memories are still the same-ish.

"Don't like orders, do you?" he asks, knowing it's rhetorical. "Well, neither do I, but you see this time's different; I have you to order around. You're  _my_  slave, and you will obey me. Hesitation is pain." With this he stares at the Doctor whose head suddenly feels like it's on fire. Clutching his skull with both hands the Doctor moans through a clenched jaw, everything rigid. "Obedience should be rewarded with pleasure, but I'm just not that kind of guy. If there's going to be pleasure here, it will be mine." With an unpleasant leer he releases the Doctor who slumps forward panting, the sweat running down his face and his eyes squeezed tightly shut.

"So,  _Time Lord_ , let me tell you exactly how I have you restrained, so you know there's no point in fighting me. I would hate to be forced to hurt you. I'm positive you'll be more valuable alive, and... _undamaged_."

He finishes speaking, and the Doctor thinks he might be waiting for a response. He considers not, but the collar warms, and blurts out, "Yes, of course." Looking at his keeper now, the Doctor sees in his expression that he's a cruel man, and he prepares himself to take whatever this Maniac dishes out.

"Yes, …Master. Say it," John says a little too caught up in his fantasy.

"Yes, master," the Time Lord says flippantly. "Now really, you should try something more original. I already know a Master, and he…"

"Silence!" John screams at him, his face red. He was expecting the Time Lord to be suitably intimidated, maybe even scared, but he wasn't prepared for assured sarcasm, and belligerence. He will just have to teach him some respect. He decides to feel out his new toy's reactions to see what will be most effective in breaking him. Everything he'd just read about Time Lords in the ship's records was very generalised, but gave the impression that Time Lords were complacent and arrogant. While certainly arrogant, you could see it in the set of his features and posture, this Time Lord did not seem at all complacent.

The Doctor's ability to talk has completely deserted him, but not his ability to think, and he is already implementing the lessons from the previous timeline in an attempt to gain control over his body again. Injured and made crazier by sepsis, his previous version of the madman had been rather simple to hide from. Though he had still been a cruel man, and took disgusting pleasure in humiliating the Doctor, by using his body against him; the Doctor was completely unsure how much better or worse this healthy version would be. Thankfully Rose was not here—Oh God! Rose! Was the City still gone? Did she get out? What had happened to reset this timeline? He had no way of knowing. The torc and collar were still capable of completely blocking his telepathic abilities, and he couldn't feel for the link at all without the collar warming up. Frustrated, but with no way to express it, the Doctor resigns himself to the current situation, but at the first opening, things  **will**  change.

Eyeing the Time Lord speculatively, John is determined to get what he wants, and there isn't any reason why he can't have fun at the same time. "You will call me Master, and I will not tolerate belligerence," he says slowly, like talking to a child. "I'm sure you have a name, and I don't care. I'll call you slave and you will answer promptly. The Huduct developed this torc for just this purpose, and used it successfully for thousands of years, so don't think that you can get free of it. The collar is an added bonus from my own time. As you've already experienced, it will only allow you to get so uppity before it makes itself known. Be good," he remarks with a smile that does not reach his eyes and is anything other than pleasant.

"Now, stand." The Doctor has no choice, as he responds with alacrity. "Step away from the pod. We are currently in space on the way to Mars to finish repairs, and build the booster I need to get us to the 51st Century. The ship wasn't fixed when we left Chelsea 426 in a bit of a hurry," he says with satisfaction. He's still high from executing such a successful escape. Finding the cryo-pod storage on the way to the ship had been sheer luck, but perfect for his needs. So he'd had to shoot that stupid deck hand, so what? He'd made it all the way to the ship before his idiot partner probably even knew he was missing.

Continuing his lecture, "My files on you claim that Time Lords are brilliant, that better mean you can fix space ships. I hope you can, because I have no intention of losing you after all I've gone through to keep you. Can you affect repairs on this ship?"

Not sure how he should answer, the Doctor replies with a simple. "Yes." He knows exactly what's wrong with the ship, and he knows there's nothing he can do about it.

 _/Still in space, MORON!/_  he thinks at the Maniac. The collar warms against his throat, and he furiously starts working on those partitions he needs to keep it unaware. He can't let the Maniac know that he has basically seen the future, so he just shuffles his feet and waits for his next order. At least he still has his sonic. He'll be more careful about not letting it be seen this time, and perhaps he can use it once the partitions are erect. He'll need to eat before he can start over-producing the hormones needed to trick the torc, and it's been hours since dinner with Rose.

/ _Oh, Rose, what's happened?/_ he wonders, really wishing he could feel her through the link. When he gets out of this, and can reach her, there's a lot unfinished between them that he will make right at the first opportunity.

"That's good; an obedient response. I like it, except…you forgot...Master," he says this almost intimately. At the first licks of fire in his mind, the Doctor's knees give out, and he slams to the floor panting. Not fully in control of himself, part of his mind sickeningly begins begging for it to stop, "Gah….sorry…sorry…sorry…please...no not again, no never, of course Master, whatever you want, no never again…please."

The Doctor has been captured many times, and some of those times his captors have attempted to torture him. They would never have known that with his improved physiology, they really had no hope of success. He could turn off the pain, he could metabolise their drugs, and he could hide whatever information they wanted where even he wouldn't be able to find it again if necessary. It was only from his own people that he would have ever needed to worry about torture, but that was never going to happen now. He'd been living in a little fantasy world where he arrogantly believed he personally couldn't be hurt or taken advantage of. Those assumptions all came crashing down in this instant, as he felt himself coerced into behaving like an animal.

The flames devouring his mind are gone as fast as they appeared. With shuddering breaths and trembling, the Doctor tries to regain himself. He's humiliated to be wadded up on the floor like a whipped puppy, but he doesn't want a repeat; so he stays where he is.  _/So, the crazy bastard likes pleading, great,/_  the Doctor thinks sarcastically.  _/I never would have thought I'd be in a situation like this, and **still**  consider it better than the last. I'm getting too old for this./_ Any situation where Rose might still be alive is always better.

"So let's try that again, can you affect repairs on the ship?" He asks again with an unsettling intimacy that would be appropriate from your Aunt asking if you'd like another cup of tea.

Right on top of the answer this time, the doctor says clearly, "Yes, Master."

"Good boy, now stand. I don't like the defiance you're trying to hide from me, and I'm afraid that  _isn't_  good." John saw the look of shame and disgust that had been on his face belying the pleading that had come from his mouth.

 _/Interesting,/_  John thinks, calculating his next move. He considered having the Time Lord void himself, but thought better of it when the notion of the smell occurred to him. So many interrogation techniques he had learned since becoming a Time Agent, and here he was getting to try them out on a subdued Time Lord. Imagining to himself all things he might be able to learn, John begins reconsidering his original plans; formulating new ones. Plans where he will keep his prize, and once he learns how to use his new tool, he'll be able to set himself up so he'll never have to go back the Agency again.

Still gazing intently at his slave, John's lips curl into a particularly cruel smirk as a new idea has occurred to him, "You only need your hands for the repairs, and since you can't leave, I don't think you need clothes. Strip." John is expecting to see some expression of horror or revulsion pass across his slaves features, but he just looks bored as he strips naked and folds his clothes neatly to the side. Perhaps Time Lords don't have hang-ups about being naked. He's from the 51st Century after all; he understands, but he isn't pleased. Well, there are plenty of other things to try. Refusing to back off the nakedness, John begins to tell the Doctor what is wrong with the ship and that he expects results.

With the reset, the Doctor had been hoping to avoid the nakedness and everything that had previously gone with that unfortunate portion of this little nightmare. Apparently, the Universe is not feeling particularly kind today. He soothes himself with the reminder that there are only three days in this entire episode. Hopefully this time there will be a better ending. He can hold out that long, and the crazy Maniac has to sleep some time. He'll need to eat soon, if he's not to start making mistakes that could blow them out of space before they crash to Mars, and so he can have some success against the torc. The other unfortunate bi-products of being naked are the lack of his sonic, and he's now vulnerable to the emotional onslaught when being touched by his captor. Sighing inwardly, he finishes the first of his partitions, and hides his emotions behind it. At least the collar won't give him away now with every errant death wish he directs towards his captor.

Getting up from the command chair, and walking past his captive, John reaches out and pinches the slave's armpit hard on his way by, enjoying the flinch and grimace. Coming to the food replicator, he pushes a few buttons, and a couple of nutrient bars pop out. John throws one of the bars to the slave's feet, before he locks the replicator back down, turning on the isometric controls.

"I'm going to bed, get to work. Stay in this room." With another smirk to the back of his toy's head, John can no longer stifle his yawn, and he heads to sleep. Taking a bite of the bar, he's pleasantly surprised to find it tastes like pears; he loves pears. Two days to Mars, another few days to get help and build the booster, then home sweet home. This might be the best night's sleep he's had in months.

* * *

**17B Oh, it's you.**

The Doctor is trapped. Trapped in his mind and his body. Currently, he's pacing around the Pools in his Foyer. He hates the Pools, but —What?! Looking around, he knows he's done this already.

Motion catches his eye and he notices the surface of the Pools are angry, like they're about to boil, or are filled with piranhas. "Now that's a cheerful thought!" he snorts to himself. He's just about to step closer, when he abruptly falls to his knees overwhelmed with the nauseating sensation of his own timeline collapsing and rebuilding. The dual realities making room for themselves in his mind, causing waves of overlapping experiences; the now and not-now warring for space. He's intimately familiar with this awareness, having lived through it hundreds of times during the War, but it never gets any easier.

He now has a full set of new memories. His kidnapper, injured, abusive, and going mad with sepsis; while he was humiliated and made powerless—a slave, by an ingenious combination of Huduct torc and 51st Century sex collar. He had been working on solutions to both mechanisms, when… Oh God! Rose! The crazy bastard said the Sontarans had blown up Chelsea 426. That wasn't supposed to happen. He's pretty sure it was supposed to be decommissioned sometime in the 31st Century. Why would the Sontarans have been there at all? The torc had put him down when he'd found out and reacted too strongly. All he wanted to do was murder the maniac. Odd to feel somewhat thankful to such a hateful device for keeping him from acting on impulse and doing something he knew he'd regret later. The Doctor had even done what he could to strap the poor bugger down, before he locked himself back into the cryo-pod; then they'd crashed. He remembers not caring if he died or not. What would be the point. He was so tired of being the last, of being alone.

Still on his knees, with his head in his hands, and rocking quietly he relives all of the previous timeline's memories as if he were there, again. His grief for Rose was/is nearly debilitating. The spiral of self-hatred and blame is nearly impossible to break free of while he's trapped within his own mind. Wallowing in his misery, it takes him some time to realise he's no longer strictly alone. Pulling his hands from his face, he sniffs, and putting his hands to the floor he looks up at the toes of a pair of black leather boots. With a growing sense of unease and aggravation his gaze continues up past the jeans, jumper and leather jacket to see the piercing blue eyes of his previous self boring into him.

"Oh, it's you," he says petulantly, and he's annoyed with himself for sounding that way.

"Ya, it's me. What the hell are you doin'?" Right he'd been caustic, he remembers now.

"What the hell are  _you_  doing here?" Two can play at this game.

"Oh-ho, is that how we're playin' this then? Fine. Some part of you that isn't filled up with stupid thought I could help. I dunno, it's your 'ead now. Why don't you figure it out, pretty boy." The completely unveiled sarcasm and derision has the desired effect of getting the current Doctor off his knees and to his feet.

Glaring at each other for several moments, it's finally the current Doctor that speaks again, "Well, I have no idea how you can help. It's not like we can get out of here while our body is frozen in cryo-sleep." He starts pacing around the Pools again leaving his self alone.

Leather smiles at having won that little contest, not that it helps the situation at all. This part of the Doctor that remains is equal amounts amused and annoyed that his next self would be so pretty, and apparently—ugh…melodramatic! He's positive it has to do with regenerating while his head was filled up with Rose.

Rose. She's what they have in common. Their love for this particular singular human…oh wait, what's that? Catching up with his current self's memories, he's astounded at all that's happened. Being an abstract construct representing his previous self, in his own mind, Leather doesn't experience the memories as fully; something he's currently very thankful for. He knows exactly what's going on, but how to fix it, now that's a different matter. One thing he can do though.

Stepping into Suit's path, Leather puts a stop to the pacing. "Oi! What are you doing?" Suit says, nearly bumping into his past self.

"Oi! I'm stopping you from being an idiot, is what I'm doin'."

"Oh? And how's that? You're me, you know," Suit says with an eye roll, and people think he's rude now.

"Don' remind me! Look, we don't know that she's dead this time. Really, you didn't know she was dead last time. Got all emotional this go roun', yeah?" Leather asks rhetorically, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What? What are you saying?" He shouldn't be surprised that Leather would know what he was thinking.

"I. Am. Saying. That Rose might not be dead. We just went through a collapsing timeline; a reset."

"Of course! That's brilliant, maybe Chelsea 426 made it, but what about the Sontarans? We still have no idea what's happened."

" 'Course it's brilliant, I'm me!" he says with the daft grin Rose loved so much. Serious again, "No, but it's still a good enough reason, to not get all mopey about somethin' we don't know yet."

"So, I assume you're caught up?" Suit asks waving his hand around to take in his Foyer and all its doors.

"Yup. So, we're engaged to Rose. That's a surprise, though not as big as her bein' a Time Lady now. Would never o' occurred to me it could be possible. Does she know?" he asks referring to the engagement.

"I don't think so. She didn't know what she was doing. I called it a 'link', making it sound less…ahhh…important." Suit says this squinting at his trainers and rubbing the back of his neck, knowing what's coming.

"Important! It's only the most important thing tha's happened to us, since…well at least since the War, but as far as our…," Now it's Leather's turn to wave his hands around himself, at a loss for words or embarrassed about them.

"As far as our hearts are concerned? Yea, it is. No point being embarrassed here with each other. Not that we're ever good at being honest, even with ourselves," Suit says looking up at Leather with a small and understanding smile.

"Ya, that's true. Wish I'd a kissed her before it was too late; a real kiss I mean. I never expected to be saved by a little human girl. It's really a bit humblin,'" Leather says thoughtfully.

"Well, I've had plenty of opportunity to take up where you left off, thank you," Suit says feeling possessive.

"Pfft! Is that howya see it, waitin' till she's Gallifreyan before you can work up the courage? Ya almost lost 'er! No, I take that back, ya did lose her, ya daft git!" Leather is having none of it. He understands the reasons, but she had done too much for  _him_ , and he would have given her everything he had. Well, actually he'd done exactly that, but Leather isn't convinced the consolation prize is worth it. Taking a breath to calm himself, it won't really get them anywhere to bicker like a couple of old women, so he lets it go.

Suit on the other hand does not 'let it go'. Turning sharply, he looks his self eye to eye, blue to brown. Thinking he might be about to get in a fight Leather stiffens.

"You're right." Pushing both his hands through his hair Suit turns and paces away from himself. "You're right. I should have taken her as wife as soon as I was passed the Regeneration sickness. I was stupid, but I was so afraid of exactly what happened; that I would lose her. Do you have any idea how improbable the entire concept of the Sphynx is, and she's the only thing that brought our Rose home. What would the Bond have done to us then? Would it have survived the closing off of the parallel Universe, or would it have been severed? I can't decide which would be worse." Barking out a hateful little laugh he continues, "And here I am now, arguing with my previous self over the woman we love. I will tell you this though, I'll have a full Bonding with Rose, as soon as she asks. The TARDIS will help, you know how she is about Rose. Did you know they talk, like properly…with sentences?"

Leather crosses his arms again, and sighs at how he can natter on now, but he's somewhat mollified that Suit will actually finish the commitment, but can't quite help needling him one more time, "Ya know, if you'd already been Bonded, you'd know if she was alive or not, even here. Not to rub it in or nuthin," he says with the 'you're a moron, and I'm not' look.

"Ya, thanks for that," Suit says with exasperation. "Now, if you can think of anything that would actually help, I'll be over here, trying to find me a way out of this mess."

Some time passes, but it is hard to tell how how much. The Doctor's time-sense doesn't work well when his body isn't functioning fully. Time can pass differently in one's mind, than it does in the outside world, but it feels like a couple of hours to them. Suit has spent the time either leaning against the base of the pool or splayed on the floor, thinking. He and Leather have spoken very few words since their initial exchanges. Leather has spent the time pacing the Foyer, reading the walls and other surfaces as if looking for an idea writ in the stone around them.

He has just wandered closer to the central Pool, which is still quite active; if anything, it is even more agitated than previously. Looking into the shivering silver liquid thoughtfully, he glances over at Suit who is sprawled on his back nearby, arms crossed under his head gazing upwards.

"Do ya remember when we ended up in Romana's bedroom? When she installed…these," Leather says waving at the Pools. "I couldn't figure out why my head hurt so bad, even out of the coma. Meddlin' girl," he says with a sigh of sadness and affection as he leans forward on his palms looking deep into the Pool.

"I do," says Suit. "I had just been remembering that episode when I was here the first time, in the other timeline. What about it?" Suit sits up, looking steadily at his former self. Maybe he has an idea.

"Do you know what these are?"

"Well, yes. They're Temporal Stabilisation Pools. We both know that."

"Stop bein' so thick. Try using that big Time Lord brain of yours. They're also Temporal Nullification points. I think they're still movin' 'cause we're still involved with the previous timeline." Leather is looking at Suit like he's waiting for the lightbulb to pop.

"Okaaay, What's the point you're making?" Suit asks curtly, but then thrusts out a hand to forestall the inevitable snarky reply; he's still thinking. "That would imply we are still in the collapsing timeline, at the Event Horizon let's say,….orrrrr we're at the focal point of several potential timelines all struggling to exist." Looking over, their eyes meet and in unison, "Or are existing; we're the causal nexus point-like Schodinger's cat."

Suit throws himself from the floor and starts pacing agitatedly. Leather watches from his place by the Pool. Pieces start slotting together for Suit, and he begins thinking out loud, just trying to process all the possibilities.

"Why. Why would this be different? The Universe is always creating alternate timelines, and we never know them unless we specifically look. It's not like we're always affected by the outcomes of all the possible combinations. In fact, if this wasn't us, we could see them and navigate through the potentials. Why is this different? Why, why why?" he winds to a stop for a minute.

"Well, if you want my opinion, I think it's the destruction of Chelsea 426. We know that wasn't supposed to happen. So, if somethin' has changed that outcome, it directly affects us, and there's several ways it can play out." Leather starts ticking off points, "1, he keeps us in cryo for the entire trip to Mars, tries to fix the ship himself, we crash. 2, Still in Cryo, attempts to fix ship, not so much, we blow up. 3, He wakes us with the slave tech, and forces us to try and fix the ship, we crash…again 4, He wakes us, still slaved and we blow up the ship on purpose. Personally, I vote for options 1 or 2, since we've already had the ' _delight_ ' of 3. The cryo-pod is designed to withstand space, and  _should_  start transmitting a beacon when it detects the change in exterior atmosphere. The TARDIS  _should_  be able to pick it up…if we're bein' looked for, and IF the Crypod isn't damaged in the explosion. The worst part is not knowin'."

"Well you're a bundle of joy," Suit says sarcastically. "What about the Rose and the TARDIS find us, and get us off the ship, option?"

"Seriously? How would she get to us with that maniac out there,  ** _that_**  I will point out may not be injured this time? She could get killed tryin'. We have no idea what kind of weapons he might have with 'im. I will tell ya, I'm not lookin' forward to options 3 or 4 bein' a possibility, again." Remembering the wanton cruelty the injured and dying man had been capable of, both men shiver at the thought of the humiliation and abuse that would be heaped on them at the hands of the intact madman.

"I completely agree with you," Suit says. "But none of this can get us out of here under our own volition. I hate that!" he says in frustration and throws himself down against the Pool next to Leather, who turns and moves to sit next to him. They're both frustrated, and while they have a better idea of what they're facing, neither of them has any solutions. With no contact to the outside world, they are literally trapped and helpless.

Another hour or so passes with the two Doctors sharing stories. They're both the same man, but their unique perspectives and methods are still intact, so despite themselves and the usual abrasiveness this sort of close encounter engenders, they are…tolerating each other, enjoying even…maybe a little. What it really boils down to, is how both incarnations are still very aware of how lonely they've always been, even amongst their own people, but they're still too close to the cataclysmic event that rendered the previous version of lonely—a complete and total understatement. Sitting on the floor in their mind, leaning against the Pool, they each find comfort in the other while relating stories they both know, but doing so in their own nearly lost language.

Leather is currently relating the incident on Satellite 5 when they found out Adam had had an interface installed in his head, and none of them, Rose included, could stop clicking it open. Laughing like school boys at the naughty prank, Suit suddenly leaps to his feet, with a shout.

"I've got it! Ohhhhh, I am so, brilliant!"

"Oi! You're like a cricket is what you are. So what've you got? Amaze us," Leather says with the usual acerbity, but his expression is open and smiling; excited at what his other self may have figured out.

"The interface.  **We**  are the interface. We know what's likely out there, or at least one version of it. We can prepare." Suit announces this with a boyish grin.

"How do ya mean prepare? We're still frozen," he points out, crossing his arms once he's standing.

"Yes! But we're active in here. I can be working on the partitions from inside now. I can't see why I'd have to be awake. I also still have the memories that I used for the loop, so if we wake up with the slave tackle on, we'll be ready!" Suit is so excited to finally have something that might be constructive to do that he can hardly hold still.

"Right. So you want me to start manufacturing the hormones, then. Ya know, we have no idea how much time we have. With the physiological system so sluggish it will take hours to have enough ready."

"Yup, but we already have no idea how long we've been in here. It might be the first day, or we might be crashing," states Suit, refusing to give up on the first good idea they've had.

"True. Alright, then let's get t' work. At least, we might be able to buy enough time to get the sonic out and short one or th' other things out. You should go blow up the factory that makes those damn collars, plant some more bananas."

"Oh good idea! You did have a few of those in your time," Suit comments with a laugh.

"Oi!" With a snort and an eye roll, the two versions of the same man get down to business.

The Doctor turns his consciousness even further inward beginning the creation of the necessary structures and setting into motion the plans that he and his previous self have just agreed upon. He's pleased with how well meeting and working with this former version of himself has gone. That's not usually the case. He thinks that it's Rose again. She's so pervasive in both their thoughts. He knows that she's already the reason he breaths, therefore his current task is for her as well, whether she ever knows it or not. Both of them love her unconditionally, but secretly the Doctor is very glad to have lost those ears. Omega, they were huge!

"Oi, she likes the ears!" Leather cries indignantly, having heard that last thought.


	18. Augmented

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad Wolf has plans for our Rose, and this is only the beginning.

**18 Augmented**

 

Rose slowly pulls herself up from the warm golden dream she was having towards wakefulness. It was almost womblike where she had been. Nothing to worry about, no pain, nothing bad at all, just comfort and an all pervading love that she's reluctant to leave. The same golden sanctuary knew it was time for her to go, and as the last tendrils caressed her, they gently but lovingly pushed her consciousness outward to the light and her life.

Blinking awake, she is at first disoriented by the oil-slick sheen that limns all the surfaces she can see from her bed. After blinking a few more times, both the sensation and the weird visual distortion are gone. Shaking her head to clear it and forgetting the oddness, she shifts, yawns, and indulges in a jaw-cracking stretch. She feels great, more than great really…rested, happy, calm; she feels fantastic. Sitting up in her bed, she notices that she's wearing her usual sleep wear of silk tank and shorts. How did that happen? She's fairly sure she went to bed naked. Sitting up straighter, and checking her time sense, she realises she's been asleep for…3 days!

"Holy shit!" Rose cries as the realisation hits her. From the Doctor's chair swarms a startled Jack, who'd fallen asleep reading as he kept vigil over Rose.

"Holy SHIT!" she shrieks again, shocked by Jacks appearance.

"Rosie, Oh my gods! You're finally awake. I was so worried." Reaching her side in two lunges, he drops onto the bed at her feet, reaching for her hand. She lets him have it though she's thoroughly confused.

"Jack! I've been asleep for three days! What the hell's that about?"

"I wish I knew, Rosie. The TARDIS helpfully dropped a book on Time Lord physiology in my lap the first morning you didn't wake up, and I mean literally in..my..lap. I almost aspirated my coffee, I was so surprised. Anyway, all I can figure is that you were in a healing coma. By the way, after the second day, I bathed you and thought you'd prefer waking up in pyjamas."

"Healing coma? What would I have been healing from that required three days!? The Doctor only needed one when he was dealing with regeneration sickness. Wait, bathed me?" she asks incredulous.

"Well, it isn't like I didn't see you naked before; but I don't know what happened, maybe all that we did with the Sontarans. It was pretty taxing on my brain and voice; I can only imagine how it affected you, since you were doing all the work. I felt like I had the worst hyper-vodka hangover ever the next morning, but I'm real glad your back; really, really glad!" Pulling her into a fierce hug for a moment, he releases her and jumps up from the bed announcing with enthusiasm, "I'm going to go start tea, and I bet you're starving. Give me twenty minutes and I'll have breakfast up!" And with that, he's out of the room like a shot.

Rose, on the other hand, shakes her head still confused.  _/So I've been out cold for three days, Jack bathed me like an infant, dressed me, and now I'm fine. Everything was so much simpler on the Estate!/_ Rose thinks wistfully.

Wondering how the Doctor is doing, Rose reaches for their link and finds she can access it much more easily. She'd been expecting to reach for it and just barely get the tingle that he was still alive, like before. This time, however, she can almost see the thin, single golden thread connecting them. Following it, she can feel his mind. She's tempted to rub against him like a cat, but she can sense that he's currently not aware. Feeling around his mental locus, attempting to see or at least get an impression of his whereabouts, all she can pick up is cold. He's still in the cryo-pod. Interesting. So, in this new timeline, his kidnapper hasn't woken him yet. Well, that must be good, since the last one seemed extraordinarily unpleasant.

Since she can't learn anything else, she begins to pull back. As she does so, she notices the shadow of two parallel golden threads running along either side to the one she's been following. That's weird, though not any weirder than this morning has already been. Focusing on one of the other timelines has brought it to the fore, and with a sickening lurch her consciousness slips sideways into it. Now she can see the original timeline as just a shadow, and as if she's fine-tuning this new perception, she sees more shadowed timelines. There is the one other that leads directly to her Doctor; the rest do not appear to progress in the same direction.

Concentrating on this first alternate timeline, she follows it to a drastically different situation. Here, the Doctor is awake, and extremely unhappy. Something is keeping her from actually making contact with him. She gets the information in tiny bursts. All she can gather is that he's agitated…and maybe…in pain? She's unsure. He seems to be very busy, with whatever he's doing, and that at least means he's alive. His distress worries her, and she does  **not**  like it. Curious about the other parallel timeline, she seeks that one out to observe where it leads.

Concentrating on this one jumps it to prominence, though it appears murky and less clear than the last.  She follows it after the same sickening sideways lurch; curious about the different possibilty it leads to. This situation is much worse than the last. On this one she can reach him fully, but just as she makes contact, she feels his enfeebled mind call for her one last time before it goes ominously silent.

With a mental shriek of  ** _/NO!/_**  she dives into the fading blue of his consciousness, looking for him without considering any potential consequences. The impression of his mental landscape is becoming barren and turning grey. Finally reaching his Foyer, she finds…nothing. The Pools are dark, and the doors are fading from view. Looking frantically around and calling for him, she hears nothing.

She's gasping and sobbing, trying to find a remnant to save as she catches sight of a tiny bright blue marble suspended above the lower pool, only a few centimetres from the still, dark surface. Reaching for it, she feels the beginning of an urgent tugging on her consciousness, the TARDIS is pulling her forcefully from the dying environment. Lunging forward, she's able to grab the little marble.

As she's being yanked forcibly from not only the Doctor's mind, but that timeline, she focuses on the marble. Mentally she sees herself blow on it, and it brightens. With a "Hello, Rose…," she hears her Doctor's voice and watches what he's experienced in the past three days. His coming awake, and the injured man, John Hart. The abuses,  _/Oh Doctor./ S_ he listens and watches him struggle with the slaving devices; just as he's beginning to succeed against them, he learns his kidnapper thinks she's been killed. Crashing and locked in a dead cryo-pod without any oxygen, he lets himself die rather than regenerate without her. Once the memories of him using her as a focus for his sanity have ended, the little blue marble vanishes; that vestige of the Doctor gone forever. This is the timeline she ended along with the Sontarans. Just before she's pulled back to complete wakefulness again, she catches one more glimpse of that timeline as it fades completely grey and crumbles away from hers; in a moment, it is gone entirely.

Gasping back into herself, she hears Darling frantically calling for her. Trying to catch her own breath and stop the sobs that are uncontrollably wracking her body, she stumbles to the shower. Turning the water on full blast, she slumps to the floor and lets the water pound some relief into her bruised psyche, while she comforts the TARDIS, and also looks for answers. Her mental adventure took 3 minutes and 56 seconds.

**_~ROSE! My Wolf! I nearly lost you. You were so nearly pulled from me.~_ **

_/Darling, I'm here. I'm sorry, what happened? What…what was all that?/_

**_~I think Bad Wolf may have…augmented your already substantial gifts.~_ **

_/Augmented? Added to them? Why would she do that though?/_

**_~I would assume so you can channel her energy more efficiently. You were in the healing coma for a very long time, and that is usually only because of major organ regrowth during regeneration or substantial damage to the brain.~_ **

_/Alright, I can buy that. I did feel really tired and fuzzy after we were finished with the Sontarans. I felt a little like my brain was…itching…burning. But, what happened just now?/_

**_~Oh, my Wolf. You had followed a different time stream to a dying version of my Thief, and you were in his mind as it was dying, too. It would have taken you with it if you had stayed. I had to pull you out.~_ **

_/It was horrible. He thought I was dead, that I'd died when the Sontarans killed the City. That isn't going to happen now, right?/_

**_~It has already happened, my Wolf. That timeline is gone.~_ **

_/That's good though right? I mean, he died in that one…unhhh, I could feel him slipping away; he_ **_wanted_ ** _to go. He chose…../_

Another bout of sobbing takes her as she pours out her grief at the sensation of losing her Doctor permanently. The White Wall of Doom was bad enough, but at least she'd known he was alive. This experience though, feeling him choose to let his life ebb away, so broken, and calling for her at the last, was much worse. She will  **not**  let this happen. She's been given another chance. She chose when she ended the Sontarans. She'd saved thousands in Chelsea 426; she will save her Doctor, too.

**_~Good is meaningless, my Wolf. It happened, but we will do our best to keep it from happening again.~_ **

Pulling herself together, Rose gets up off the shower floor, and bathes with purpose. Completing her shower, she gets dressed while formulating plans and making mental lists. There's a lot to do, and she may have less time now than she thought she'd have three days ago.

_/I saw other timelines. How do I know which one is the right one? How do I choose?/_

**_~It is not always as conscious a decision as ending that other timeline. There are always parallel realities created by either our decisions or those made by others that affect us. When we reach the causal nexus point, Timelines will be discarded or made anew by that event. We will have to wait, they are only possibilities at the moment~_ **

Rose doesn't like this answer. There must be something she can do. Bad Wolf wouldn't have 'augmented' her for no purpose. At this thought, she feels Bad Wolf stir within her. Reaching for Her, Rose is immediately back in the altered perception showing her two timelines—the one she's in and the alternate which has the Doctor potentially in peril. Focusing on this timeline, Rose feels Bad Wolf share the vision of it with her. Now, she can see the twisted rope leading to the Doctor with several nodes of coloured emotional moments. Bad Wolf is enhancing her ability to read the Timeline even further. She sees a knot of purple black fury, knots of green fear, and most everything is glossed in the brownish yellow of pain. This makes Rose/Bad Wolf angry. They are endangering her Doctor and it will not be allowed to continue. Sifting through her options, she sees that she must reach her Doctor before he is woken from stasis. If she does that, then any other alternate timeline will cease to exist.

Satisfied with their task ahead, Bad Wolf and Rose separate. Coming back to herself, Rose has a new appreciation for the augmentation that Bad Wolf gifted her with. In this instance it wasn't very pleasant, but knowing is better than not. Reaching for Darling, Rose outlines what she learned to her.

_/Can we time it that closely, Darling?/_

**_~I will do my best, my Wolf.~_ **

Rose sends as much confidence and appreciation as she can at the wonderful being. Rose worries that she asks Darling for too much help. She must think humans and Time Lords are the most irritatingly needy creatures in the Universe. Rose knows there's still a lot of work to do to find her Doctor, but she's ready; she needs him.

Suddenly, the smell of breakfast makes her stomach growl so loudly, she's sure Jack can hear it. As if on cue, he yells down the hall, "Food's up!" Smiling grimly to herself, she pushes the grief over the Doctor's death down and away. It will not happen that way; Rose Tyler forbids it.

Exiting her room, she hears Jack singing American Pie, as he putters around the kitchen. Finding a genuine smile come naturally to her, she wears it all the way to the kitchen.

* * *

Jack is just beginning another round of the chorus, " _Bye, Bye Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry_ ," when Rose walks in. "Hiya, Rosie!" He can see she's been crying. Not wanting to pry, he pretends everything's fine. He's done his own fair share of crying in the past couple of days. First thinking something he had done was killing Rose, then realising that he didn't care at all about what he might be losing by staying on the TARDIS for the next couple of years, and then how he was probably going to be killed by a pissed off Time Lord for killing Rose.

It was a rough couple of days. The book the TARDIS gave when he was so worried had helped some, and it was actually fascinating. Respiratory Bypass, now that could come…in…handy. With a lascivious turn to his thoughts that amuses him greatly, he sets the plates piled with eggs, toast, and some meat like protein he had found in the fridge. He has no clue what it is, but it smelled good cooking.

"Mmmm…everything smells divine! I'm so hungry. Thanks for cooking, Jack," she says with a smile. Seating herself and pouring a cup of tea for both of them, she's more than ready to take on the meal. Starting in comfortable silence filled with the sounds of lusty chewing, it doesn't take them long to slow down, and start talking.

"This was amazing," Rose says, finally pushing her plate away. Picking up her tea, she blows absently over it with an abstracted thoughtful look on her face.

"Thanks, glad you liked it. I have no idea what the meat stuff was, but it seemed tasty enough."

"Oh, that's what's left of the Venusian Bacon. They make it from some weird armadillo pig thing. The Doctor found it at a market on…San Helios, I think. He was ecstatic. I can tell you it is a hell of a lot tastier than Venusian Crabs. Those are vile!"

"Blech! I completely agree. As if green slime wasn't bad enough, but they smells like puke. How do people eat that?"

"Right? The Doctor thinks they're the best thing ever. He called them the fruit of the Goddess of Love!"

They both laugh at this distinctly distasteful notion, and the hilarity of the Doctor's preferences. Missing her Doctor terribly, Rose sobers and looks down into her tea.

"I saw him," she observes quietly. "I reached for him, just to see if he was still out there, and I noticed…well, I noticed some changes in how my mind works now. I could see our link, not just feel it, and I followed it." Rose wants to share the experience with Jack, but she's having a hard enough time digesting the things she's seen, and it's his ex partner who's responsible. She isn't sure she should burden him with these memories.

Jack can tell she wants to talk about it, but is hesitant, so he speaks up, "You could show me if that would be easier." Seeing her reluctance, he leans forward and takes her hand, "I'm your friend. Hell Rosie, you think of me as your brother. Let me help you. I'm a big boy, and you'll remove the memories someday anyway, so I think I can stomach however bad they are for a couple of years." He says this with a confident smile on his handsome face. He's so sincere.

"Jack, some of it is seriously ugly," she shares, giving him one last chance to say no.

"Let me help."

Leaning forward and still holding his hand, she lays her palm against his temple, "You ready?" With a nod from Jack, she slips the entire morning's condensed adventure into his mind. Since it's not a great span of time, processing the incoming information doesn't take nearly as long as her previous sharing.

When he has it all, he releases her hand, and gets up from the table to pace, a look of contained fury suffusing his features. It takes him several moments of heavy breathing to regain his composure. Turning to Rose with an expression of bitter sadness, he says, "I am so sorry, Rose. I had no idea he was capable of such…barbarism. I thought I knew him so well. He could be a hothead, but …no clue."

"You were lovers?" Rose asks. It's the only reason she can think of for the 51st century sex collars being on board. "Yes," he replies simply, looking away. "We'd been partners for two years, and long missions get boring. That's why I thought I knew him. You talk about everything when you're alone for so long. Dammit! I didn't know."

"This isn't your fault, Jack. Please do not make this your fault. You're right, you didn't know. This entire idiotic situation is no one's fault, except John Hart's. He's the one to point the blame at. We don't have time for a mea culpa parade. Let it go.  _You_ , I know. Truthfully, I do think of you as my brother, and I love you, Jack." Getting up from the table she interrupts his pacing to hug him, hard. She needs to feel his solid muscles and his loyal heart pounding under her ear. He's such a good friend, and she's so glad he's here.

Putting all of that into her hug, he's startled at first, not believing she would't be mad; but as she hangs on, he relaxes, taking all the love she's pushing his way.

"I love you, too, Rosie," he sniffs. Then as they stand back from each other, he says, "Let's go get this Doctor of yours. I'm looking forward to meeting the guy that deserves you."

Taking his hand with a grin that lights up the TARDIS, they head out to the Console Room.

* * *

"That's one good thing from that collapsed timeline—learning where they're headed. Mars won't be a problem, but I'd like to try and find him before he wakes up. That's going to involve the Vortex."

/ _Can we get there, Darling?/_ she thinks leaning against the Console. Flashing her lights and humming an affirmative, Rose and Jack start the dematerialisation sequence. The TARDIS lurches as she reaches the Vortex. The wormhole from where they were may have opened, but the Vortex itself is still stormy. Working on the Architectural Stabilisers that Darling flashes in her mind, Rose is able to give them a little solidity. They're still shaking, but not being tossed around the room is a definite improvement.

Inputting the coordinates for the space above Mars, 24 hours prior to where they just left, she throws the switches and toggles for the materialisation. With loud grinding, and much more shaking than Rose can compensate for, they slam to a stop on a firm surface. That wasn't Rose's intention. Picking herself up off the floor and reaching for Darling, she feels Her focused inwardly, repairing something and not responding to Rose. Looking for Jack, she sees him rubbing his bum, but he's standing, too.

"Is it always that exciting?" he asks, wondering if this was such a good idea after all.

"Yeah, don't you remember?" she asks him with her tongue stuck in her grin. "I don't know where we are though. I was aiming for space."

"Doesn't it say on the screen?"

"Not yet. She must be fixing something, all I get is a screensaver that says 'fixed point.' Go open the doors. Let's see where we are."

She and Jack walk to the end of the ramp and open the doors onto the Martian landscape. They're both pretty sure it's Mars…dusty, red, cold, and windy; must be Mars. Turning back toward the Console, Rose reaches for Darling again,  _/Darling? Is this Mars? Why are we_ ** _on_** _Mars?/_  She doesn't get a response, and she has a really bad feeling about all of this; but what else is there to do? Not sure if she should be worried or not, Rose and Jack go looking for the spacesuits. Might as well go exploring while the TARDIS repairs herself. Rose looks back at the Console one last time, before closing the doors behind her.

She has a strange heaviness in her mind--an itchy buzz, and she doesn't know what it means. She's trying to dig some knowledge out of this big Time Lord brain of hers, but for some reason, she isn't coming up with anything. With a final shrug, she tries to put her unease behind her and enjoy the adventure. She has a time machine; as soon as whatever is fixed, they'll follow through with her original plan, presuming the Vortex has calmed down.

As the lock clicks on the shutting door, the view screen flickers back to life displaying: 21 November 2059.


	19. Fixed Points

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose learns about fixed points, both living ones and situational ones.

**19 Fixed Points**

"Run, Jack! Hurry it the bloody hell up!" she cries over her shoulder. Rose is running as fast as she can, which is considerably faster than Jack. They've got less than an hour, and she isn't taking any chances.

"Right behind ya! Get to the TARDIS, and get the door open," he calls to her back. Space suits are not designed for fast get aways. They had taken more than an hour to amble toward that ridge, so it would take much less time to get back at what qualifies as an all out run in an orange space suit. This would be funny if he wasn't so worried about what was about to happen behind them, but Rose said they have at least an hour before the situation heats up—literally.

* * *

Almost two hours prior they had walked away from the TARDIS looking around them in wonder. Jack had been to Mars before, but it had already been a huge sprawling colony, and mostly terraformed. This was a younger, raw Mars, before humans had made their mark on it. It was beautiful in a terribly arid way. It wasn't too much past dawn, and the small pale sun did little to warm the thin air around them. Luckily the bright orange suits kept them comfortable. Finally bored tossing rocks as far they as they could in the reduced gravity, they had struck out toward a likely ridge. It looked to be high enough they would see for quite a distance.

Reaching the ridge; the view was as expected, long and breathtaking, but nestled on the plain below them was a small outpost. Very small, with just a few domes, and the landing ship synced to the colony as its power source. This was a very outdated method. In future colonies, the ship was reassembled into the first domes. Jack has a tickle of recognition in the back of his mind, as if he's trying to remember something important.

"Hey Rosie, hold up a moment," he says through their comm as she's about to head off down the ridge. "This reminds me of something. Some piece of history I should know. I don't like this."

"Truthfully, me either; something feels off, almost wrong. I think something big happens here."

"Can you sense anything special, with that superior Time Lord-y biology of yours?" Jack asks teasingly.

"Jack, you're brilliant! It's so new to me, that I'm not in the habit of using all these new abilities." With a grin she looks out toward the colony and allows her other sight to slide forward, looking for timelines, traces, anything that might give her a clue to what's causing the tension.

She sees the colony as a writhing knot of oncoming fact. There are several timelines wrapped up in the angry wad, but none of them extend out of the knot. Thinking this is strange Rose reaches out, sliding her senses over the strands and into the knot. She's about to reach out mentally and touch the juncture of change when Jack grabs her shoulder snapping her back to herself. Staggering from the abrupt change, Jack steadies her.

"Rose! We have to go," he says emphatically.

"What? Jack, what are you going on about? Something big happens there. I was just about to see if I…"

"No, Rose I remember. I know exactly where we are, and I bet I know when, too.

"Okaaay, so help a girl out," Rose says resting fists on her hips as she glares at him.  The abrupt change of perception is definitely going to give her a headache.

"That, Rose Tyler, is the first human outpost on Mars, Bowie Base One, and if I'm right it's going to explode sometime soon," Jack says with a sweep of his arm. "No one knows exactly what happened. There are plenty of theories—gas leaks, environmental failure, you know; the usual. But the last message that got out was something about the water, and then—Boom!"

"Bloody hell, that's awful!" Rose can't imagine how terrifying it would be, out here alone with no possibility of help. With a shudder of realisation she turns to Jack. "That's why the event is so knotted, and all the individual timelines just end. That's what I saw. This is a…'fixed point'. Dammit, that's what it said on the view screen. Bugger it all.  How could I be so stupid?  What the hell else would 'fixed point' mean?" With clinched fists, she turns back to look at the Base sitting on its plain; its inhabitants serenely unaware of what was about to happen.

"We can't stay," Jack says softly, laying his gloved hand on Rose's shoulder. "We can't help them. This has to happen for humans to make that greater leap into space. This terrible, terrible event is the catalyst. I remember it now; had to write a report even. My pictures were from a different angle though; from the plain over there," he says pointing to the flat land past the outpost.

"I know, Jack. It just hurts, you know? How do you just let those people die? I sometimes wonder what the point is of all these superior Time Lord powers are when you can't use them without making things worse."

"With great power…"

"Comes great responsibility. Ya, ya, I know! That doesn't mean I have to like it. Alright, let's get the hell out of here, before I think of something stupid and dangerous to try." Taking one last look at Bowie Base One, they see one of the domes, crack and start to shatter; air escaping explosively with bits and pieces that are obviously parts of trees.

"Uh-oh! I think we are closer to that 'go Boom' part than we want to be. That ship nuclear?" Rose asks eyes going wide. She forces herself to look at the timelines again, trying to get a sense of how much time they have. The knot is screwing itself tight, but she guesses that they have about an hour.

"Yeah, we'd better run! We do  _ **not**_  want to be here when it blows. The crater was…well let's just say it was big."

Turning away from the base and the cliff edge, both Jack and Rose take off across the barren landscape, not stopping for fun on this return trip. "I give us about an hour," she calls to Jack over the comm. "Great. Hope the TARDIS is fixed enough, or we'd better pray the doors can keep out a multi-megaton nuclear blast!"

"Keeps out the Vortex, and bullets, and Mongol hordes; so she should be fine, but how about we don't test it." Rose says this into the comm. Looking over her shoulder, she sees Jack some thirty steps behind her. They have at least two kilometres of rocky, sandy, and generally uneven ground between them and the TARDIS.

Jack can't believe he actually saw Bowie Base One. He'd been fascinated as a kid with the disaster. It was all so mysterious; here he was, and he would still never know. Putting his head down and running harder, he focuses on just getting to the TARDIS.

* * *

Rose already has her key in hand as she bounces off the TARDIS using Her to stop her momentum. Getting the door unlocked is only a couple more seconds. Opening it and stepping inside she continues up the ramp at a jog, taking the helmet off as she goes, dropping it on the jumpseat. Jack is about 45 seconds behind her slamming the door shut and locking it before he joins her at the Console. Turning the screen to Jack with a look of sadness, she shows Jack the date: 21November 2059 .

"Is that what you remember?"

"Yes," Jack gasps out, nodding. Taking deep breaths to calm his heart, he runs a hand through his sweaty hair. "How's the TARDIS feeling? Can we leave?"

"Oh, sorry I hadn't checked yet. I feel so bad for those people dying out there, and here I stand safe in my magic box. It's unfair."

"Yes, it is. But the Universe isn't worried about fair Rose, it's worried about balance, and this has to happen to maintain balance. You saw what happened at Chelsea 426. How things would get worse as the Universe fought for balance, even to its own destruction. It wasn't fair that all those Sontarans died, but they did and we did it; you, and me, and Bad Wolf, to reestablish the balance. It can't be different just because they're human. And remember Rosie, you're not," he says this last as gently as he can. He has more practise at this, having been a Time Agent for many more years than she's been a Time Lord. He's dealt with these thoughts many, many times through unnumbered sleepless nights. The right thing is usually not the easy thing.

Rose flinches away from Jack, turning the screen back to face her. She doesn't have time now to grieve; it will have to wait. Her Doctor makes these difficult kinds of decisions every day as well, and she will have to learn. Like Jack just said, the Universe isn't about fairness. A few tears manage to work their way out anyway, and she scrubs them away with the back of her hand.

Jack takes both their helmets and locks them in a storage closet off the side of the Console. Taking his station across from her, he waits for Rose to tell him what to do. He knows she's hurting. His sympathetic look says it all, but she needs the space, and she's glad he picked up on that. Leaning against the Console, she reaches for Darling.

_/Darling? Are we ready? Are you okay?/_

**_~No, my Wolf. I am not okay. I am dangerously low on energy. Fighting the Vortex…is difficult. I can get us back into it, but I must go to the Rift._** /

Rose can feel the TARDIS' distress. She had not noticed it before. It is deep enough that Darling must have been shielding her from it. Rose senses that she isn't being told everything, and she probes a little deeper.

_/It's more than that, isn't it. Is it the Doctor? Is it me? Can I give you any Bad Wolf, or… the Tears! Would the Tears help?/_

**_~You are so perceptive, my Wolf. It is partly my Thief. We are bonded, and he is in distress. It is…taxing. No, I cannot take Bad Wolf from you at this point; you are too deeply interwoven, and the Tears are meant for larger needs than mine~_ **

Rose wants to argue that Her needs are just as important, but the vision of the TARDIS exploding that Darling sends her gives her chills and she understands. The Tears are too powerful for even Her to assimilate.

/ _Okay, Cardiff it is. Can we maintain in the Vortex until Jack goes to sleep? Can't have him meeting himself even by accident./_ Visions of Reapers fill Rose's head, and she shudders at the memory.

**_~Yes, I can wait that long, but I will need to condense all remaining unnecessary rooms for the power. I will leave the Library, Kitchen and your rooms. I am sorry.~_ **

_/Oh Darling, you don't have to apologise, it's okay. We'll do what we can to make it better./_

**_~We are here because I could not maintain the necessary power to pinpoint the correct time. I…fell. I am sorry, my Wolf. We should_ ** **_never_ ** **_have been here. I will only need a few hours at the Rift. Hopefully our Jack will be busy. I will land at night.~_ **

Sending her love, concern, and support to Darling, Rose looks up at Jack, "Okay we're good to get into the Vortex. Then we'll need to stay there awhile. She needs to hang out for a bit; let things settle." She hates lying to him, but events are already weird enough without two Jacks in the TARDIS, and Cardiff Jack is immortal now. She hasn't found a way to deal with that yet. Like Darling said she'll just hope future Jack's asleep.

Rose had the benefit of sleeping for 3 days straight on top of her superior biology, so she doesn't need any more rest. She does however, take a long bath after all that running and emotional stress; it feels like floating in heaven. After dinner with Jack, a movie and some reading, he has finally gone off to bed. Once she's sure he is soundly asleep, she changes clothes and is back in the Console room.

 _/Alright Darling, let's not wake Sleeping Beauty. Take what you need, even if it's my room, so we can land smoothly,/_ she thinks with a smile.

**_~Thank you, my Wolf. I can feel the Rift from here, it should be an easy trip.~_ **

And for once, it is. They land without a thump right where they had the day they'd stopped Blon Slitheen from murdering the Earth…again. Caught up in the memory, she can almost smell her first Doctor's unique scent. The same spice of time, mixed with a bit of TARDIS grease, leather, and something primal— an edge that was just a little dangerous. She had never caught all these nuances before, but now reliving the memory with a whole new set of senses, it feels fresh and new. It also makes her miss both her Doctors tremendously. Scrubbing her face with her palms, Rose pushes the memory away. No point dwelling on what has happened. She needs to focus on what needs to happen now.

Darling has helpfully added a charging bar on the view screen that looks just like the one on a cell phone except it's TARDIS shaped. Laughing softly at the blinking green lights, and the humour of this magnificent creature she calls friend, Rose looks around for something to do. She doesn't really know how to fix anything. They hadn't needed to do any of that before all hell broke loose, and she lost the Doctor. She's too keyed up to read, so the Library wouldn't suit. Feeling an insistent poke from Darling, Rose looks back at the screen to see an image of future Jack sneaking up on the TARDIS. Really…sneaking.

Sighing to herself at their luck, Rose grabs her long leather coat and heads for the door. She had been looking for something to do; careful what you wish for.

* * *

Stepping out of the TARDIS into the chilly Welsh night, Rose is glad of the coat and her new Time Lord temperature regulation. Locking the door behind her, she already feels Jack across the Plaz from her. As she felt in the Doctor's memory, he's heavy, and she can sense his energy pulling at her. Adding more layers to her telepathic shielding helps a little, but doesn't do anything for the teeth itching buzz of wrong that fills the air around him. It's as if he walks in a forcefield that isn't harmonising correctly.

Stopping herself, she quickly moves to the opposite side of the TARDIS from Jack and leans against Her, thinking hard.

_/That's it! Harmonising. I need the Doctor to create a device that harmonises at a frequency opposite of Jack's to cancel out the wrongness. Rose Tyler, you're brilliant! Oh I can't wait to tell the Doctor!/_

She's so pleased with herself that she almost misses Jack getting closer to the TARDIS. Rose can feel Darling cringing, but refusing to move. She won't leave her Wolf behind no matter how annoying the Lover feels. Not wanting to distress poor Darling further, Rose takes a fortifying breath and comes around the side of the TARDIS to face Jack, who is half-way across the Plaz.

At seeing her, he stops dead. With her enhanced vision, she can see his eyes go wide, and he mouths 'Rose.' She can tell he's about to run to her, but she holds up a hand, silently asking him to wait as she moves towards him. It hurts her hearts to see the look of confusion and pain flash across his features. He hasn't seen her or the TARDIS since the Game Station, and she has no idea how long it's been for him. He died thinking she was safe. He probably has no idea what all took place. This was  **not**  going to be fun.

Reaching him finally, Rose forces herself to go as near to him as possible. She will not let what she did to him, affect her…much. With her hand still up, asking him to stay in place, Rose comes to stand in front of him and smiles sadly.

"Jack, long time no see." She can see she's causing him pain by maintaining her distance.

"Rosie?" he questions, her name a strangled syllable in his throat.

From within, Rose feels a stirring; an uncoiling of Bad Wolf energy. Suddenly, she has an idea, and she knows it isn't hers, but still she likes it. Wrapping herself in the warm golden energy, Rose starts to sing.

Jack's eyes get huge and he takes a couple of steps away from her as her eyes glow gold. He also thinks he can see a slight mist of golden particles seep from her skin. She raises her hand again, and he stills; afraid of what might happen if he moves. She isn't singing words, just formless sounds, and he gets the impression she's looking for something.

The music is beautiful. Ethereal in a way that's hard for him to focus on, and she's making chords that should be impossible for a human throat to make. After a few moments, she finds a chord, that makes him feel very strange, almost like it pulls his breath away. Smiling broadly in what Jack can only think is triumph, she hums the chord one more time, and then seems to swallow the sound. A few more seconds pass, the glow fades from her eyes, and his Rosie is grinning back at him with that damn tongue of hers caught in her teeth. Before he can think twice about anything that just happened or the hurt he'd been feeling, he sweeps Rose up into a bone cracking hug.

She returns it with one of her own, and giggles wildly as he spins her around.

"Oh, Rosie! I missed you so much!"

"Jack Harkness! It's definitely mutual, and before you ask about the Doctor; I'll tell you anything you want to know, but there'll be conditions, and there had better be chips."

"Rose Tyler, and her chips. Now I know, all is more or less well with the Universe."

Slapping him on the arm before she takes it, they head off to find a late night chippy. The TARDIS sighs to herself in relief. Settling in, Darling rests and recharges.


	20. Captain Jack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Future Jack and Rose get caught up.

**20 Captain Jack**

Jack doesn't take Rose to his favourite chippy around the corner from the Hub. He takes her to one that's several blocks further into town. He's completely uninterested in running into any of his team at the moment; too many questions. He's been waiting to see the Doctor and the TARDIS for more years than he cares to admit, and he has part of his goal. Something is seriously wrong, and even though he's angry, if he can help he will. He'll set aside his gripe with the Doctor…for now-for Rose.

Sitting at a table after ordering, they're both quiet, feeling a little awkward, and unsure of where to begin. Rose is about to start, when their chips arrive, and she uses the hot greasy treat to distract herself from the situation.

"Ohhummmmm, these are GORG-eous! Nowhere has chips like good ol' Earth!" she says affecting a bit of their Doctor's Northern burr. Seeing Jack look away, Rose feels guilty. Of course, he has no idea what happened to their Doctor, to her; the Time that has passed—her story.

 _/Might as well get it over with; this isn't going to get any easier,/_ she thinks. Opening her mouth, she closes it again, when Jack beats her to getting the ball rolling.

"What just happened Rose, on the Plaz? Oh, and by the way, you're supposed to be dead at Canary Wharf." He's looking at her thoughtfully, but she can see the wariness in his expression, and she knows she caused it.

"Right. We'll need to back up a lot before the answers to that question actually make sense." Jack blinks at her in surprise a couple of times before he blurts out, "Your accent, it's different—really different. How long has it been?"

"Oh Jack. Linearly, from the point of the Game Station, I guess…three years, but I have another three years added into there. It isn't the time though…it's so much more than just the Time. God, where to start."

She's deciding where to begin when Jack blurts out, "A hundred and thirty-nine."

"What?" she asks, confused.

"I've been here waiting for 139 years," Jack says with unshed tears glistening in his eyes.

"Oh my God, Jack. I am so, so sorry." Rose replies with obvious guilt.

"What are you apologising for? He's the one who left me."

"Because of me! Jack it's, well it's all so complicated."

"Isn't it always? 139 years, Rose. Waiting here; knowing he would have to visit the Rift at some point."

"Jack, I'm sorry. He's sorry. Look, I want to explain everything to you, but…," and here she takes a deep breath. She knows he's going to want to help, and he can't; not yet, anyway. He will have to wait a little longer. "But there are conditions."

"Okay, what conditions? I've lived a long time, Rose and died more times than I can count. I can wait some more, but not forever."

"I don't want you to!" She's so sincere, that some of the ache in his heart lessens. "But I'm afraid that is exactly what needs to happen. I need you to wait a little longer."

He stares at her. She can feel the conflict within him. He's so hurt, and he's so much older than her new Jack, who's sleeping away his little human life back at the TARDIS.

She feels him come to a decision, and she starts smiling before he even begins.

"Well, I've waited this long. Give me what you got. This place is 24 hours, so we have as long as you can stay." He crosses his arms over his chest and leans back in the bench, expecting this to take a while.

Laughing at him, she reaches out a hand to him. Quirking an eyebrow at her, he leans forward to take it, gazing for a moment, at the small unusually cool hand resting in his palm. Looking back up at her quizzically, Rose grasps his hand firmly and leans forward over the table. Jack's eyes get big at the strength in her grip. With a soft smile and a look that is half amusement and half sadness, she locks her gaze with his and says firmly, "Jack Harkness, Raxacoricofallapatorious."

Jack's eyes roll back in his head and Rose catches him, laying his head on his crossed arms, so he can process all the memories she just unlocked. She had already decided that she would save her new Jack's memories for him to have again, and use this password and mental push to unlock them. Unfortunately, this was much earlier in her timeline than she had planned on releasing them, so she would have to keep him from telling her more than she could know yet.

Dammit! She really wanted to know that everything would work out. Well, she's the idiot that made this decision, and it was too late now, to do anything about it. Gritting her teeth, she settles in to wait for Jack.

Luckily this chippy is busy, otherwise having a guy slumped at her table would probably look weird. Well, maybe they'll think she's waiting with him because he's pissed drunk. Grinning to herself at the thought, she watches the people around her. She can feel the buzz of their chattering minds all around her. It's oddly comforting, being surround by all this oblivious life. She envies them their innocence. And what seems to her to be alarmingly often, Rose has another moment where her understanding for her Doctor deepens. She really wants to reach out to check on him, but she has no idea where he is relative to her at the moment, and that could be dangerous. The Doctor keeps saying crossing your own time stream is bad news. So she reigns the impulse in, and pretends he's fine; still asleep on his way to Mars. Sighing to herself, she looks back to Jack, seeing him start to come around.

"Oh God. Did anyone get the name of that lorry?" He rests his head in his hands a moment before shaking it, trying to clear some of the fog away. Raising her hand to forestall anymore questioning on his part, Rose says, "So here's the first rule for tonight. As you may be about to guess, you've received this information before I intended you to have it, but you're so bloody well…you," she announces with exasperation. "And that means you have more knowledge than I do currently, and I can't know it yet. So keep your mouth shut on anything after going to sleep in the TARDIS the night we left Mars 2059. Got it?"

She can see his wheels turning, digesting what she's said and finding the memory. His eyes get wide again, and he actually grins at her.  _/Oh thank every God in Heaven, it turns out alright,/_ she thinks with relief _._  A knot that had made itself a home in her belly releases, and she breathes a little easier. He wouldn't be smiling like that if it was all bad.

"Geez, Rose that's all the way at the beginning; that's no fun at all!"

"You realise that you've just told me a whole pile of things just by reacting this way, right?"

Eyes getting wide again, he actually clinches his fist to his mouth in apology and looks back at her with horror. Laughing at him, she lets him off the hook, "You big goof, it's okay." Taking a deep cleansing breath she feels relaxed for the first time in days. "It's actually great, because I've been so worried."

He just nods, eyes still wide and glued on her, fist still at his mouth.

"You think you have a handle on everything now?"

"Yeah, I think so. Holy shit, Rose—you're a Time Lady!" he says as he takes his hand away from his mouth. Cracking an enormous grin, he teases her, " And the Doctor regenerated into a hottie! Wow, that hair! Just makes you want to grab handfuls, don't it?"

Blushing to the roots of her own hair, she nods, "Umm, yeah—it does." Giggling, they chat about the Doctor before their conversation gets serious again.

"So you know why he left now? And Jack, I am so sorry for doing this to you. I had no idea." Rose says to Jack wanting, to make sure he understands.

"Yes, we actually talk about it in depth just before you take these memories from me. Rose, you never need to apologise for loving me so much, you couldn't stand to let me go. It took some getting used to, but it has its benefits. We also talked about how you wanted to find a way to cancel the unpleasant effects of my being a living, breathing fixed point."

"Exactly, and I did that tonight! Brilliant, me!" They both smile this time at the memory of their first Doctor.

"That was the singing! You used Bad Wolf to harmonise a chord that would cancel out the feedback I cause in the fabric of the Universe," Jack states looking, suitably impressed.

"Yes! That's exactly what I did, and I currently have it playing on a loop in the back of my mind. Good thing I like it," she says with her teasing grin. "I plan on having the Doctor incorporate it into a bio-dampening device. I don't know yet if it will work better for us to wear it or you, but when you see us again, we'll have it. I think I'll call it the Harkness Harmonising Adapter or something," she says, laughing.

"That will be great, and it will really help a lot. Any time-sensitive race we encounter, which are not many mind you, but they all react oddly to me, and won't negotiate if I'm in the room. Since I direct Torchwood now, that gets a bit awkward."

"Yeah, I'm sure it does." At the mention of Torchwood, her mien darkens.

"What's up, doll? You suddenly got very closed off," he says as he leans forward touching her hand.

"It's Torchwood. I forgot you're Torchwood here. That probably means you don't want to join us, when we come back. You're busy defending the Earth now—have a team and all depending on you." She tries to hide her disappointment, after all that was exactly what she had done in Pete's World. She feels a twinge of sadness at the thought of her family and friends.

"This is  **not**  the same Torchwood that was screwing with the Rift. God, Rose, when I saw your name on the wall of the Canary Wharf dead, I nearly came unglued. Yvonne Hartman, that stupid, stupid woman!"

"Oh Jack, I'm so sorry. She did help out in the end, even after being converted. That's how strong her convictions were; they were wrong, but they survived the process. She took out quite a few Cybermen in the end."

Not ready to feel charitable toward Yvonne Hartman just yet, Jack shrugs, "Well at least she managed something decent."

"Yeah, so you'll want to stay?" Rose prods. She'll understand if that's his decision, but she hopes it won't be.

"Well, you're right, I do have a team, like you did on Pete's world, but Rose Tyler you have a time-machine. Of course I'll come, you'll just have to bring me back periodically to keep them on their toes until I can train up a replacement. Which won't be easy let me tell you! I've been running this place for over a hundred years." He tells her and her grins lights up the room brighter than the approaching dawn.

"Jack Harkness, I knew you wouldn't let me down. You can get started right on that replacement finding, then. We won't be back till we're done gallivanting around the Universe with the younger prettier you. We'll drop him off so he can be a swindler for a while, and catch that silly girl mid-air during the London Blitz with his 'oh so impressive' Chula War ship." Tongue firmly caught in teeth, Rose grins at him cheekily.

"Rose Tyler I should put you over my knee! Prettier, seriously? I haven't aged a day since I last saw you." He answers her grin with one of his own. Ordering more chips, they reminisce about their first Doctor while Rose waits for the TARDIS.

Three hours, 42 Minutes, and 16 seconds later, Rose knows it's time to head back to the ship. Jack sees her reach that decision, and stands, offering her a hand. Taking it politely, he pulls her into another hug. They stand like that for long enough that the few patrons left start clapping thinking they just got engaged or something. Grinning in mutual embarrassment, they leave arm in arm to head back to the Plaz and the TARDIS. In the early morning light, they reach the corner where the evening had started, and Rose turns to give him another hug.

"You keep an eye out for us, Jack Harkness. We're coming back for you."

"Oh I'll know when you come back with the Doctor."

"How's that?" Rose can't imagine how he would know whether or not the Doctor was with her.

"I have a Doctor Detector," he announces with a wink. "A hand fell from the sky right before Yvonne blew the Sycorax ship up. That hand belongs to a Time Lord. Since there was only one of those at the time, I assumed it was the Doctor's. I have it stabilised in a jar. That's how I knew the TARDIS was here, though I think it would have reacted more strongly if the Doctor had been with you."

"What?!" she asks incredulously. "That's…that's so weird and a bit disgusting. Well, it was weird and disgusting at the time when he grew it back. First 15 hours after regeneration or something like that. Wait till the Doctor finds out, he'll probably be all fascinated. Might even try to grown another one of himself from it…God, the whole Universe would probably explode from the extra ego involved." Laughing, she can't get the picture of the Doctor's hand in a jar out of her mind. It's so mad scientist, utterly ridiculous.

"Oh, I don't know. Two gorgeous Time Lords for the price of one, sounds like a great idea to me!"

"Cheeky!" Oh, she hadn't thought of that yet. "And hands off Harkness, he's all mine."

With a wave and another grin, she bounces off toward the TARDIS. He can almost hear Her singing to him. With a wave and a new bounce to his own steps, he makes his way back the Hub and a team filled with questions about the pretty blonde, and was that the TARDIS?


	21. Rescued...Mostly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Jack reach the Doctor, but can they actually save him?

**21 Rescued…mostly**

Jack enters the console room the next 'morning' with a yawn and cup of coffee in hand to see Rose dancing around the console with a rag, cleaning and singing softly to herself. It sounds a little like…

_Close your eyes and I'll kiss you. Tomorrow I'll miss you._

_Remember I'll always be true, And then while I'm away_

_I'll write home every day. And I'll send all my loving to you._

"Good morning, Sunshine. Is that the Beatles?"

"Yup! Morning. Done, sleeping your whole life away?" She grins at him, purposefully teasing him.

"Ha! Yeah, thanks. You're in a really good mood this morning."

"Yup, we're rescuing the Doctor today!" She's spent the past couple of hours cleaning anything she could lay her hands to, just to have something to do. The entire console practically sparkles.

She and the TARDIS have been working on her idea for the Harkness Harmonising Adapter, refining what will be needed for it to work. They're both sure that once she outlines her idea to the Doctor, he'll run with it. And whatever it ends up being, it will probably be able to sonic popcorn or something. They'd been amusing themselves by continuing to guess imaginary functions the Doctor would theoretically find necessary. Both ladies are in excellent moods. The TARDIS feels much better, and Rose has the confidence from Future Jack that everything will work out fine. She doesn't fool herself into thinking there isn't going to be difficulties, she has the memories of the aborted timeline to prove that. But unlike that outcome, she's certain of an eventual positive one. She's just hoping the eventual is more of a today sort of thing.

"So are we doing this before breakfast, or can we eat first?" Jack says this as his stomach growls loud enough Rose can hear it across the console from him.

"Well, before you release the Kraken, I guess we should feed him. Allons-y!"

Throwing her rag aside, she takes Jack's hand, and they skip down the hall to the kitchen for a nice breakfast. They laugh and joke, teasing each other about this and that. Rose has a new appreciation for this younger Jack. She's glad she gets to see this him. Healing from some of the damage he'd experienced in his earlier life, he almost glows with renewed hope and an appreciation of life, and it's only been a couple of days for him. She'll fix him just like she's fixing her Doctor, though without the snogging. Then when she gets him back in the future, she'll do it again. If this is her lot in life, to help fix the people she loves, she'll be a very satisfied Time Lady.

"Whachya thinking on so hard over there, Rosie? I can smell your wheels burning from here."

"Oh, you know, just thinking how nice it is that I've got you here. I'm glad you stayed, is all."

Embarrassed a little at the praise, Jack focuses on his coffee intently for a moment.

"I'm glad you didn't write me off as the same kind of scum as my ex-partner. I didn't enjoy being a Time Agent, but I was good at it. It didn't start that way, though you know. I was the first kid from my settlement to get recruited. I don't know if you know this, but the Boeshane Peninsula is out on the edge of nowhere, so they called me the Face of Boe! I was even on posters," he reminisces with a proud smile.

Rose nearly drowns on her tea when he calls himself the Face of Boe, thinking back to the giant head in a jar on Platform One. She's able to wave Jack off with excuses of just swallowing wrong so he'll continue his story, but now she can't stop looking at him and comparing his handsome features to those of the head in the jar…with tentacles..Tentacles! And that was 5  _billion_  years in the future. Wow.

She catches herself before the next sip as the universal irony of future Jack sitting around with the Doctor's hand in a jar comes to mind.

Cleaning up in the kitchen, they head to the console room. This is where all the action will initially take place. Looking over at Jack, she sees that he's as ready for this adventure as she is.

"So the TARDIS and I have worked out a plan."

"Okay, am I going to like it?" he says with a slightly pained expression.

"Will it matter?" she teases him some more. "I don't know, but it's the best we can come up with and will hopefully cause the least amount of trauma to the Doctor, assuming we get it right and he's still asleep." She's really hoping they get it right this time. Just the thought of him going through any portion of the memories she experienced, makes her feel sick, and she doesn't want the alternate timeline to ever exist.

"Alright, what death defying antics are we about to engage in?"

"You remember that part where we rescued you from your Chula ship before the bomb blew up?"

"Yeah, is that what you're planning? We turn all pirate and board the offending vessel, taking no prisoners, and freeing the captive?"

"Yup, that okay?"

"Fantastic!"

Rose smirks at him, but she's still worried about how many things could go wrong. Taking a deep breath she reaches for the TARDIS.

_/Are you ready, Darling?/_

_**~Indeed my Wolf, I am very anxious to make this rendezvous, and successfully retrieve my Thief.~** _

_/Me, too./_ Rose thinks with matching anxiety.

Darling surrounds Rose with a warm mental hug filled with love and reassurance. They both get down to the business of Doctor rescuing. Rose goes over the plans for aligning the TARDIS with the interior of the ship, getting as much information about it as possible from Jack. She then shows him how to get them back out and on their way once finished, in case she has her hands full with her Time Lord. When they feel like they're ready, Rose flips the switch that sends them winging towards Mars and the Doctor.

* * *

John Hart turned the ship around 3 hours ago, starting the deceleration and reverse burns, flipping the Inertial Dampeners off and on. Even so, he's pretty sure he's going to crash. He's been trying to fix the Dampeners and the Impulse Stabilisers, but with next to no success. The access panels were outside, and they're in space after all. Stepping over his stolen Time Lord every time he needs to head to the loo, get food, or sleep has made him a bit cranky. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Now, he's pretty sure it's the worse idea of his life, which might be made a good deal shorter here in a few more hours.

He's considered removing the Time Lord from the pod and leaving him sedated, strapped to a chair. John's pretty sure  **he'd**  survive the crash in the pod. It's rated as a life pod, able to withstand a certain amount of damage. Well, it would if it were new, but the one he'd snatched is a little on the used side. Beggars couldn't be choosers, though. He'd been super lucky to stumble across their storage building when he was headed to the space port. It's the age of it that keeps him strapped to his own seat. He did go get dressed in one of the environmental suits though. At least he won't burn to death while wearing it. Won't do much against being crushed, but it's something, and that makes him feel a little better.

Maybe he  _should_  wake the Time Lord. Maybe he could fix something John hasn't noticed. They do have a few more hours before it's really critical. Everything he's read (which isn't much) on the ship's computer says Time Lords are brilliant. Brilliant, arrogant and dangerous, that isn't a good combination inside a small ship that's likely doomed. Wondering if he has anything to restrain an awake and angry Time Lord, John starts searching the ship's inventory. "Oh ho, what have we here?" he calls out to no one.

Half an hour later, he's feeling quite smug that he has these two particular items on board. It's almost as if the universe is smiling on his endeavour. The pod is hovering at hip height, and he's just finished tuning the collar and installing it around the sleeping Time Lord's neck. Now, he affixes the torc's control unit to his own head, where he winces at the small pinch as it embeds it's filaments. Placing the torc over the Time Lord's temples, he pairs the units, and thinks the control phrase clearly. Success is marked by the now glowing purple light and the torc tightening against the unconscious man's skull.

John has just finished this when he feels his ship give an odd shimmy. Turning to look at the control boards, he suddenly hears the engines power off, and somehow he's dead still in space.

"What the fuck?" he says wonderingly.

Nothing should be able to just stop him in space. It violates all the laws of physics. Still looking at all of his instruments, trying to figure out what could've happened, he notices two things. First, his ears pop as the pressure in the ship suddenly changes. Secondly, and much more frightening, is the aggrieved roar that comes from directly behind him. Whipping around he sees two impossible things. There's a door in the hallway leading to the rear of the ship, but this time it contains…another room. A warm brightly lit room with cables and visible struts. It also has two people, both of whom he recognises stepping into his ship, but his brain is having a really hard time making sense of that.

So, instead John focuses on the other impossible thing, which is much, much closer to him, and probably more dangerous. The murderous black eyes of a furious Time Lord. John is positive that he sees lightning in his raging gaze. This, John knew how to deal with. The collar was already turning red, and he could tell it was going straight to constriction. Locking his terrified eyes with those of the irate Time Lord is one of the braver things he's ever done. Putting all of the fear for his life in his thought he tells the torc to put his captive down…now…out cold. Initially nothing happens. Then an incandescent light bursts from the torc, and the Time Lord clutches his head gasping out a strangled scream while clawing at his neck, and falls back into the pod convulsing in a seizure.

In the seconds it takes for the TARDIS to materialise silently within the confines of the ship, Jack has opened the doors, and both of them step through onto the decking. Entering it, they see the Doctor rear up from the bed of the pod, turn toward the other man with an incensed roar, then clutch his skull and throat as he tries to scream again, but falls back in the beginnings of a seizure.

"DOCTOR!" screams Rose, and she is at his side in a heartsbeat. Jack, on the other hand, is across the room and has his "partner" by the throat slammed against a wall.

"Jack, he's seizing what do I do?" Rose cries franticly. She rolls him to his side, and is trying to keep him from slamming his skull into the pod's edge.

Locking his own enraged gaze with that of the man he's holding and tightening his grip, Jack growls at him, "Turn off the torc, John.  **NOW!** " Nodding with eyes wide, John releases the Doctor with a thought. He has no idea what just happened. Maybe the torc and the Time Lord aren't compatible. He says as much out loud to Jack, still shocked at everything that's happening so fast; the impossibility of it all. As the torc releases the Doctor, he falls still; much too still. Placing a hand to his chest, Rose feels his heartsbeat, but they are erratic and much too slow.

Turning to the Doctor's tormentor, Rose's eyes begin to glow,  _"What have you done?"_ she asks, her voice becoming hollow as Bad Wolf comes out to protect her mate. John's eyes widen further, and the indignant anger he was feeling instantly turns to pure terror as he wets himself.

"I..I..don't know. I just wanted him to help repair the ship," John stammers. Jack slams his head against the wall again.

"Help? You think you'd just ask instead of trying to kill him. I should throw you out the airlock right now," Jack growls in his face, close enough for spittle to land on John's cheeks.

Rose/Bad Wolf turns back to her Doctor. She's surrounded in her power, a fine golden mist enshrouding her movements. With a touch she blocks the collar's telepathic connection and disengages it, throwing the hateful thing aside. Touching the torc, she overrides its control with her own, and gently removes it from the Doctor's head; she sees the tiny drops of blood on his pale skin from pulling out the filaments before they'd had the chance to withdraw. Crushing the torc in her fist, she smiles at the pained screams coming from the Maniac behind her, as the control unit on  _ **his**_  head overloads. The screams cut off abruptly as the man loses consciousness. She drops the mangled torc to the floor. Leaning forward, she pulls her Time Lord from the pod. Cradling him against her, Rose/Bad Wolf turns to Jack, who is still holding the now unconscious John Hart.

" _I must care for my Mate. He is yours to deal with."_ Turning back to the TARDIS, she walks in and disappears down the hallway toward the Infirmary.

Jack looks back at the man in his fist, and feels nothing but disgust. "You had so much promise, but all you could ever be was a piece of shit. I regret ever laying eyes on you John Hart." Jack picks him up and puts him in the cryo-pod. Closing the lid, Jack considers locking it to the floor. He doesn't.

Making his way back to the TARDIS, he does not look back as he closes the doors behind him. Walking to the console, he initiates the dematerialisation sequence that Rose taught him, taking them out of the ship. Re-engaging the little ship's controls, the TARDIS releases it back into it's previous flight plan. When that's complete, Jack puts them into the Vortex, and goes looking for Rose.  _/Please let the Doctor be alright,/_ Jack prays to the Universe at large.

* * *

Rose/Bad Wolf carries the Doctor all the way to the Infirmary. Depositing him on one of the beds, she climbs up next to him. Rose, no longer needing Bad Wolf, releases her with a caress of gratitude. Bad Wolf is content to let Rose fix this, but she has her own plans. The golden mist breathes its way back into her, and within a moment, Rose is herself, alone next to her Doctor. Laying her hands on his chest, she can still feel the heartsbeat, but they are too slow and uneven for a healing coma; something is wrong. Acting on instinct, Rose places both her palms on either side of the Doctor's head, and dives through his completely failed shields into his mind. Unprepared for the lack of resistance, she falls bodily into his foyer, only to be caught by her first Doctor.

"Doctor?! How?!" She can hardly believe it, but here he is. Part of her realises that he's still the same man she's come to save, but it would never have occurred to her that she could meet this him here, let alone be caught by him out of mid-air….well mid-mind-air? Whatever. Still in his arms, she's looking up into the intense blue of his eyes; instantly lost.

"Rose, my precious girl," he breathes, then he's kissing her like the world's about to end. Rose is surprised for only a moment before she responds with a moan, and just as much intensity, matching him tooth and tongue. She had wanted to kiss him (this him) since he'd asked her twice. The too brief life-saving embrace before he regenerated didn't count because she only remembered it from his perspective. This, though, was a meeting of repressed desire on both their parts, and they took advantage of the timelessness of the space to learn in moments what they hadn't been able to learn of each other in their only year together.

Finally pulling apart, breathing hard, the Doctor looks at Rose setting her down, and says through his wide and very satisfied grin, "Rose Tyler, I've wanted to do that from the moment you swung on that chain and saved me daft life. I won't be able to stay much longer, but I wanted ya to know that I've loved ya since ya took my hand and ran with me through all those adventures. You saved me, saved us, and I wanted to say thank you, cause I never properly got the chance. There, ya can smack me now if you're feelin' like ya must, but I wanted to say it before you wake pretty boy up, and he starts second guessin' hisself again."

Laughing at him through her tears, she reaches up and grabs him by the ears to snog him good and proper once more. Pulling away again, she chuckles at his expression—eyes closed, eyebrows high and thoroughly snogged. Opening his eyes and gazing at her with so much love she gasps, he pulls her into a hug. She can tell she won't have him much longer.

"Better than a smack?" She teases him, grinning with tongue.

"Always better than a smack." He grins his big daft grin at her. "I'm about to go. Not sure how I hung in this long, other than through pure determination; and I was definitely determined."

Nodding his head to the left, Rose finally looks in that direction. She had been so focused on him, that she momentarily forgot why she was here. Seeing the surprised look on her face, the Doctor knows he had her thoroughly focused on wanting nothing but him for a time, and it was worth every stolen second.

Turning now, they're both facing the Pools, and suspended between them is her new, new Doctor. Looking back at the Doctor by her side, she asks confused, "So how are you there and here?"

"Good question. The answer is that he's the dominant consciousness, and when we were overloaded, the Pools saved that consciousness. I showed up earlier though as an abstract construct his mind created to help. He was bein' stupid, as I'm sure ya can imagine," he says with arms crossed and an eye roll.

Oh she had forgotten how gruff and derisive he was. Biting her lips to keep from laughing at him, she reminds him, "He's you, you know."

"Ya, I know. Know it's your fault, too. Ya always liked 'em pretty, and now I'm…pretty. Pffft!" he snorts.

"Okay, so the Pools, what are they doing to save him?" If she doesn't have him long, she needs to know everything she can. Looking at her oddly, tilting his head like he's examining her, he says, "It's so strange hearin' you without the Estate accent. Sounds funny." Rose gives him a look she learned from her mother that should be interpreted as 'ya ya, get on with it or you'll get that smack I mentioned earlier'.

"Right, Pools. Well, Romana installed them to save us from the Moment, knowin' the psychic backlash from using it would'a killed us, too. Which at the time would have been a blessin'. Waking up from that looking like this, on the floor of my smokin' TARDIS—Rose it was devastating. All I wanted to do was die and not be the last of my people." Turning to her with the hollow wounded expression she remembers so well from their early days together, she can't help but pull him against her, and try to hug some love back into him.

Releasing her, he steps back rubbing the tears gruffly from his face. "Sorry, Rose."

Taking a steadying breath and continuing before she can interrupt, he continues, "The Pools stabilise Time in their confines to the point that there isn't any. When they're activated, they suspend me in a space with no time, preservin' me in case of a reset. During the Moment, they protected me from 99% of what was happenin' in that second. That last 1% kept me in a coma for Omega only knows how long. Once the temporal landscape outside had calmed down, the Pools released me, and eventually I woke up. Tha's really all I know. Romana was so much better at building mental architectural constructs than I was. I specialised in astrophysics, temporal mechanics, and thermodynamics." Shrugging, he turns back to Rose. "There's a problem this time. Time Lords aren't supposed to be able to have seizures; our minds don;t have the flaws that allow for it. We were working on the solutions we'd discovered in the collapsed Timeline. You know about that right?" he asks, pausing.

She nods. "Yeah, I also know what you were working on in that Timeline; the partitions and the hormones."

He really wants to ask how, but can feel he doesn't have the time, so he continues, "We were preemptively working on those solutions, but the overload was too much with our systems in flux, even for us. And look, the pools are still; they should've released me by now. Somethin's wrong." Looking back up at himself suspended between the pools, he shudders. Rose can see he's starting to fade. He sees it, too.

"Rose, you have to find me. I'm lost, and I don't know my way back. Get my body out of the Pool's field and find me."

He's almost gone, but before he goes completely Rose calls after him, " Doctor!" Looking up at her, she can still see how blue his eyes are. "I love you."

With a soft smile, he fades from her view, but as she's about to turn back to the Pools she hears faintly, "Fantastic." With tears in her eyes she smiles her goodbye at the space where he'd been. Turning back to her still captive Doctor, she starts trying to figure out how to find him and how to get him down.


	22. Fred

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose meets an unlikely friend within the Doctor's mind.

**22 Fred**

Rose takes a deep breath and looks around. The Doctor's Foyer is much the same as when she last saw it, with the exception of him suspended between the Pools. This, she's decided, is something she hopes to never see again. Walking to the centre of the space and the Pools, Rose can feel a thickness to the air, as if something is waiting to happen as she gets closer. It physically slows her down; Rose literally feels like she's having to force her way through the air. She finally reaches a point where she's about a meter away, and she abruptly pops through the barrier. The air is 'normal' closer to the Pools.

Looking up at the Doctor, she silently wishes he could communicate with her. Reaching for him mentally, she hits a solid wall. She cannot feel him at all. She had been so distracted by his former self that she hadn't realised their link was silenced. She blushes at the memory of their kisses. Rose touches her lips with a smile, and is glad that she now has that forever locked in her mind. Then she blushes a little redder, feeling guilty about getting distracted by the Doctor while trying to save him, too. Sometimes being a Time Lord is so confusing.

The Doctor is hanging motionless in the space between the two Pools. His arms are slightly away from his sides, palms out, and he's facing down, eyes closed, but there's a slight furrow in his brow. He's just as pale as he is outside in the Infirmary, too pale. His freckles almost seem to float above his skin, and Rose can't see him breathing. She assumes that's understandable since there's no time within the field.

Stepping up to the side of the Pool, Rose looks down into the liquid. It's completely still…glasslike, except she can almost sense more than see movement deep below the surface. Leaning forward, she places her hands on the edges of the lower Pool. She can just feel a vibration, though she isn't sure she feels the humming with her hands or her mind. She's very curious and wary, but determined to save her Doctor; and at this point, she's acting on instinct since her big Time Lord brain is being completely unhelpful with any useful information.

Rose tries to imagine what the Doctor would do if their positions were reversed. The only thing she can come up with is that he'd probably lick the side of the Pool, and she isn't going to do that. Instead, she reaches out a hand and holds it just a few centimetres above the 'liquid.' Easing her hand closer, Rose can see and feel the 'liquid' push upward toward her palm. There's a slight static charge building in the space between her hand and the surface of the Pool. Having a 'Go big, or go home' moment, Rose takes a steadying breath, and allows her hand to brush the surface of the Pool.

In an instant, Rose is somewhere else. Everything is white, and there are no distinguishing features. She has no idea of direction or distance. Turning in a circle, she is trying to decide if now might be a good time to panic, when she notices a speck moving her way. It's dark, but it seems to be a person moving toward her. It doesn't take more than a moment or two for Rose to see it's a woman. The woman is about her own height, with straight, dark brown hair that's pulled back in a knot at her nape. She's dressed in flowing burgundy robes edged in rust and gold. She comes to within just a few feet of Rose before she stops and stares intently for a few moments. Rose attempts to decipher her age, putting it near her mum's, though she feels this is far from the case.

Rose feels the weight of her scrutiny keenly. She's unsure how she should take it. Rose doesn't understand anything that's currently happening, but she refuses to be intimidated. Standing straighter, she mirrors the woman's posture and returns her stare and inspection. This amuses the woman who finally smiles slightly, and Rose sees the warmth and compassion that was hiding behind the stoic exterior only moments before. Now even more confused, Rose returns the smile hesitantly, but feels that it must look as unsure as she feels.

"Hello, I am Romanadvoratrelundar, and you touched my Pools; I assume to save the Doctor," the woman says. Rose's mouth actually drops open at this point. Romana! She was talking to Romana.

"Ummm….Hi, I'm Rose, Rose Tyler. How are you here? The Doctor said, wait…the Pools! What  ** _are_**  the Pools?" Rose feels like an idiot, but she can't quite wrap her head around what has happened so far. Nothing is making sense. Then she has an idea…

"Wait! This is like the Zero Room, only more powerful." Rose feels the rightness of her guess, and is rewarded with a real smile from Romana agreeing with her assessment.

"The Doctor always chooses the best. I can see you are just as brilliant as I had hoped you would be. Walk with me," Romana says and begins walking through the vast nothing.

"How could you know about me, and how are you here? The Doctor said you were…well, that you're dead. That you helped him end the War and you were lost." Rose doesn't want to be rude, but she doesn't want to waste time either. She still has to save her Doctor.

"There is no Time here, Rose—not while we talk; and we have a great deal to talk about. To answer your first question, I know about you because there was a Prophecy, and I had a feeling we would be meeting at some point. Though I would not have predicted our meeting would be this way when I first learned of you." Romana is very calm and assured in her manner. Rose, on the other hand is feeling overwhelmed. She needs a moment to digest some of this.

"Can we stop walking? It's hard to comprehend all you're telling me and walk around in all this…nothing," she says with a sweep of her arms.

"Of course," Romana says, and without any preamble, there is a table set with tea and two chairs facing each other. No longer surrounded by the nothing, they are now in a room furnished in a fashion similar to the new Library and decorated in the same colours. Through the windows, Rose can still see the white nothing extending forever, but she is no longer in it. This alone helps her feel more grounded.

"Well, that's civilised," Rose observes as she takes a seat. Romana leans forward and pours the tea. Setting Rose's cup in front of her, she raises hers, taking a sip. With a smile, she continues as Rose sips her own tea.

"Before I finish the first explanation, I will answer your second question. I was asked to build the Pools by the Moment, to save the Doctor from its effects. His mother and I worked on the computations and the architecture of the Pools for months before he literally dropped into our laps. I installed them while he was recovering in a coma the last time he came to Gallifrey…before the end. It was only days later that they were put to use. I am a mirror of my personality that I left behind to control the Pools; a copy of myself at the time." At Rose's disbelieving look, Romana raises a hand to forestall more questions. "Let me finish, then I will answer as many questions as I am able."

Smiling enigmatically at Rose, she takes another sip of her tea. At Rose's nod, Romana picks up where she left off, "Has the Doctor mentioned the Seers or the Sisterhood of Karn to you?"

"No, but I read about them in the Library. I thought the Seers were all gone during that whole Pythia's Curse thing."

"Oh, no. In fact, it may surprise you to know that for all our higher technological levels and advanced biology we were still quite superstitious. There were a few Seers left, and after Rassilon was resurrected, he employed several in an attempt to see how his plans would turn out. They seemed to have a clearer Vision once the War muddied the timelines so that hardly anyone could 'see' anything, including the Visionary. Previously, as President, I had access to all the Prophecies. One of my first duties after graduating from the Academy was at the Bureau of Ancient Records, so I knew where to look. I found one concerning you when I was researching options at the beginning of the War. When I learned that the Council was determined to resurrect Rassilon, I was reminded of that Prophecy. On reading it again, I stole it. I wish I had recognised its significance earlier."

With a shrug, she creates another pot of tea. Rose has a million questions, but she's so fascinated by Romana sharing so much, that she is loathe to interrupt. Seeing Rose is still with her, Romana continues, "The Prophecy told of a Human Child that Time loves who would be made anew by the Howling's Daughter, and how the Daughter's Child would help Time's Champion create his mate forged by the Moment. They would find that which had been stolen from Time, and heal the wounds created by Gallifrey's Reborn Son, who with the mighty light of ten thousand suns, challenged Infinity, but was soon gone, taking with him Time's Children and Eternity's Fortress.

Cryptic, but I knew it was important, and I couldn't let Rassilon have it. I was afraid he would go looking for you. What he actually had planned, the Ultimate Sanction, was bad enough."

With a shudder, Romana pales and Rose can see tears standing in her eyes as she remembers. Hiding herself in her cup of tea, Romana takes a moment to regain her composure.

Rose takes the time to process what Romana has told her, and piece together how it involves both her and the Doctor. "So then, I must be the Human, though I'm not any longer. The Howling's Daughter…is that the  _Sphynx_? Wow! The TARDIS calls Her the Matriarch, so the Daughter's Child is the TARDIS. That makes the Doctor Time's Champion? What does that mean? And what about Bad Wolf, how does She fit into all this?"

"What did you say?" Romana asks, leaning forward with an intense look that Rose had not seen before.

"I…I said, what about Bad Wolf, how…,"

"Bad Wolf— _what_   _entity_  do you call this, Rose Tyler?" Rose is getting a little scared at the authoritative tone Romana is using on her, but she assumes it has good cause, so she tells her.

"Okay, well, I looked into the Heart of the TARDIS to save the Doctor. While I was…enhanced, I used the term Bad Wolf as a sign to myself, to lead me to the Doctor. He removed it when it began to burn me up, causing his regeneration when he gave it back to the TARDIS; but a piece was left behind. Then later, I was lost in a parallel Universe and I was dying. The Sphynx rescued me, but there was a price. The price was her physical form which she gave up for me to live and in the process made me a Time Lord. The piece of Bad Wolf that was left then melded with me, the energy the Sphynx gave up for me to live as a Time Lord, and the TARDIS. Now, it's some sort of franken-force that I can utilise, but She has some will of Her own. She helped me rescue the Doctor, and we've done several other…things."

Romana slowly blinks at her a couple of times as she processes this information. Taking a moment, Romana stands and takes a few steps away from the table.

"Rose, let me show you something." At a nod from Rose, Romana draws two Gallifreyan words in the air before her.

"Can you read these?" Romana asks.

"Yes, they are both conceptual. The first represents creation, but in a huge sort of way—like all Creation everywhere. The second represents the Void. A present nothingness that protects our Universe from contact with others." Rose is very thankful for not only her gifted knowledge, but also the further studying she's been doing on the Gallifreyan language.

Romana looks quite impressed with Rose, and grins at her.

"Exceptional! That is absolutely correct. Now, let me show you something wonderful, and terrifying."

With a wave of her hands, the words flip. They are still the same, relative to each other, but are now reversed.

"Now, what do they say, Rose Tyler?" Romana asks with a smile, but a sharp intensity to her gaze.

Looking at the words, Rose is initially confused. They were just reversed. They would say the same thing, but her knowledge isn't allowing that laziness to stick. Looking at the words closely, Rose reads them. "The first represents anger and distrust, but a distrust of power. Mischievousness. The second represents…," Rose drifts to a stop, her eyes getting wide. "Bad Wolf…it says Bad Wolf."

"But why is it different from the first? What does the first set mean?" Rose feels this is significant, but it's so much to process.

Romana comes to her rescue, waving the words away and returning to her seat across from Rose.

"The first set are the original words written in the prophecy I mentioned. The Howling is also a term used by some, to refer to the Void. Your Bad Wolf is a minute portion of the entity that  _is_  the Howling. I am sure She is called many names by other cultures, but She is much larger and older than anything within this Universe. She is a force of our Universe, but not actually in it. She exists outside of the planes in which all living things and all matter exists—in the Void. She strives for balance above all else, being neither Good nor Evil, Order nor Chaos. She is vast and rarely ever interferes or manifests herself, but sometimes there are moments when she is necessary for the survival of the Universe, and circumstances align for her to…make her presence known. At this time, it is you that She needs to restore balance. She chose you, Rose Tyler."

Rose is completely taken aback. She thought being a Time Lady was big, but here she is chosen by what might as well be a Goddess, to help restore balance to the Universe? The Doctor might be used to this sort of—importance, but she is not. There is still the shop girl from the Estate flats inside this lonely woman, and that shop girl is very out of her depth.

"I have so many questions. How am I part of Bad Wolf? How could she need me? The Sphynx said that the Doctor and I are necessary, but how? Did your prophecy know anything about that?"

"Rose, Time loves you. Even I can see it, and I only linger here as a guardian of the Pools that I built to save the Doctor. It is no surprise to me that this is your Destiny; everything that has happened has led to  _your_  being here. Whatever you have experienced primed you to harbour a portion of Bad Wolf in you, so She can assist in reforging the balance. Not being of this Universe, She cannot enter it in her original form; much the same way Elementals from our Universe cannot enter another one."

"The Sphynx said that to me when She pulled me through the Void! She said I would have to reach for Her because She couldn't touch the other Universe where I was trapped." Rose can feel some of the disparate pieces finally coming together. Romana on the other hand looks at her like she grew eyes on stalks.

"Is  _that_  the Sphynx you mentioned earlier? You were pulled through the Void by  ** _the Sphynx_** _—_ the Howling's Daughter? Of course! I read about her in the Archives, but I was uncertain that she actually existed. You must tell me everthing. Rose Tyler, you are impossible and wonderful!" she says with a shake of her head. "It seems that Time's Champion certainly has found a worthy mate for himself." Romana says with a glint in her eye.

Rose isn't quite ready to have the 'Hi, I'm going to be the Doctor's mate' conversation with Romana, just yet. Rose isn't sure if she should since the Doctor and Romana had been…together? …in love? Well, she assumes so. He had said he loved her, and they'd shared a "Great Affectionate Respect." Whatever they had been to each other, Rose doesn't want to make Romana feel uncomfortable. Even as the remains of a memory, Romana knows what happened and has grief for her people. Rose feels the same sympathy for Romana that she does for the Doctor when thinking of the loss of the Time Lords. Instinctively, Rose leans forward grasping Romana's free hand and rubs her thumb over her palm, unknowingly mimicking the Doctor.

"Romana, I am so sorry. Thank you for sharing so much with me. I don't know what the Ultimate Sanction was and I wasn't there, but I did lose my family to a parallel world. I wish there would have been another solution for you and the Doctor." A look of surprised wonder passes over Romana's face at Rose's touch. Smiling softly, Romana squeezes Rose's hand in return before she removes her own.

Just then, the air around them shimmers, and suddenly the scene around them changes, but only for a second or two. Just long enough for them both to look around surprised seeing they are suddenly in a shed or barn. It has a sand covered floor with tools littered about. As they look to their side, they have just enough time to see The back of a man standing before a highly decorated box. In front of him—is Rose. Rose knows it isn't her; she can feel the entity, and it is something else entirely. The air shimmers again, just as the sound of the TARDIS materialising starts.

"What the hell just happened," she asks Romana. The look on her face is enough to tell Rose that she has no idea either.

"Rose. That was my Doctor from the War, though he didn't like being called that, and he was standing in front of the Momen…."

Rose sees Romana's image glitch. Almost like a television when a plane goes over. It is only for an instant, and then everything is perfectly normal again, but it's like the time in the barn didn't happen. Romana sets her teacup back down with a smile and picks up right where she had left off before they were interrupted.

"You are very kind and compassionate. The Doctor needs that in his life, and I can feel that you have already initiated the First Circle of Bonding with him. Do you intend to complete the union?" she asks with a surprising look of affection that is definitely directed at Rose.

Rose is a very confused. Did the barn moment actually happen? She decides to remain alert for anymore glitches, but settles back into the direction their previous conversation had been going.

Maybe she was wrong about how Romana would feel about her and the Doctor. Rose reminds herself that just because she is a Time Lady now, does not mean that she thinks like one. Needing to make sure that everything is okay between her and Romana, Rose blurts out, "He loved you, you know. He told me. Said you made an excellent Lady President. I think he misses you."

Closing her eyes a moment, a single tear pushes through her lashes and slides silently down her cheek, "Thank you, Rose. We may have loved each other for a time, before circumstances made staying together impossible. I was not kind to him leading up to the War. In my third regeneration, I chose to be harder, more ruthless; knowing what was coming. I wanted him to be something I was afraid he could never be; but I was wrong. He refused when I called him at first; but then he appeared one day, and he was not the same man. That regeneration was different. He was the Warrior I had wished for, but it still wasn't enough. I hoped he would save us; instead he saved everything but us," she says with a wistful sigh. "I protected him as much as I could as President, but he was, well I'm sure still is, so willful," she says this last with a little laugh as she remembers some of his more eloquent antics. "You will be good for him as his Bondmate. He needs a challenge, and I can tell you will be that and more—his peer."

At Rose's blush, Romana laughs again. As Romana is laughing, Rose can't help but join her.

* * *

Regaining their composure, both women smile into their tea as they enjoy each others company for a moment. "I can show you what has happened since I woke up no longer human. You are…so much more than I am, maybe you'll see a clue that would help me," Rose offers.

"Rose you are much more than you give yourself credit for, but I will accept your offer as it  _will_  speed along our explanations."

Rose and Romana lean towards each other over the table, and Romana places the first two fingers of her right hand to Rose's temple. Rose mirrors her, and both of them close their eyes as the information is exchanged.

Rose is surprised by how gentle Romana's mental touch is. She's a brilliant emerald green in her mind. Romana said she was only lingering, as if she was merely an echo, but Rose can feel that she is much more than that. Romana literally embedded a copy of herself in the Pools to maintain them for the Doctor. Her consciousness is integrated into them; in the way that they function. She'd been there all along, but he had never touched the liquid, too involved with the emotional baggage they carried to explore them.

Rose senses all of this from Romana, as well as her loneliness. Romana knows the Moment was used, because her function within the Pools' structure was to constantly shift the frequencies and shields of the field in the Pool to maintain its nullification equilibrium when engaged. She had built them because the Moment had told her to, and left a copy of herself to function within them during the event, and still the backlash had almost been too much for her to control. She had been successful though; the Doctor lived and was more or less…sane. Rose is bothered by some of the memories of the Moment. She keeps it to herself for now, but there is something strange about them…like they don't exactly sync up.

Romana also shares with Rose the solution to the current problem, knowing she won't like it; but it is the only way to break the Doctor free of the field, now that it's been compromised.

/ _Why, Romana? There must be another way./_

_/There is not. Remember, I built these. You just showed me that the Doctor was working on a solution in preparation of wakefulness, but he did not take into account what difficulties those preparations might cause in the event of an overload mid-process. His own biological functions overloaded at the same time as his mind, throwing him into the Pools; but physically he experienced something much like a seizure, effectively splitting the dominant consciousness. I have the biological one in the Pools, but his_ **_Personality_ ** _is lost in here somewhere./_

_/But Romana, if I destroy the Pools, you will be lost. He will be devastated./_

_/Rose, I am already lost. I have been physically gone since the Moment was used. I am tired of being here alone. Before you protest further, this is the only solution. If you do not rejoin the two halves of his consciousness, he will die and not regenerate./_

_/I understand. That doesn't mean I like it. He said I would have liked you, and he's right. I feel like I'm saying goodbye to a dear friend or a sister./_

_/Oh Rose, I have enjoyed getting to know you as well. You have shared so much with me, and I know we would have been very good friends in more congenial times. You are just as remarkable as I am certain the Doctor thinks you are, and I am glad you desire to be his wife. He deserves the happiness you'll have together. I would have liked to have known you properly. I do have one more piece to give you, that will make more of your puzzle pieces fit together better./_

Rose sees in her mind the Prophecy again, but this time in images, some from her mind and some from Romana's. She sees herself as the Human Child wrapped in the multicoloured wings of the Sphynx as she is reborn in shining gold from the Song of the TARDIS and the Sphynx pouring from her Soul. The Bad Wolf energy in her is stabilised as a composite being with herself, the Sphynx, the TARDIS.

She sees the Doctor energetically as a blue-black storm of Time, wound tightly and protected. The images now shift to what she and the Sphynx had created in her Dream, but Romana names the creation Gallifrey, and she see the parallels between what they both remember and is amazed.

The final part of the Prophecy unlocks an entire river of knowledge into Rose's mind that she was in no way prepared to live through—the Time War. She feels Romana try her best to sift and buffer all that she is being given, but most of it is from the TARDIS' perspective which is decidedly odd. It is almost more painful as it is so visceral. Romana supplies Rose with her own memories, making some of what the TARDIS has shared make a kind of sense. Rose hasn't been a Time Lord long enough to fully grasp the implications of living through constantly collapsing timelines. The rewriting of memories while all the other resets are still there. It is no wonder that so many of their people went mad, unable to cope. It was easiest on the oldest ones, as the Daleks and Time Lords continually strove for the pinnacle event that would wipe the other away. Opening your eyes to no longer see the person you were just talking to, and now having a timeline in your mind where they never existed, while knowing they did—it was horrible.

Rose also now understands the Ultimate Sanction and Rassilon. She sees Romana fighting against his resurrection, knowing the Council is so terrified they'll try anything—including bringing back an insane megalomaniac that destroyed his entire culture to force his brilliant views on his own people whom  ** _he_**  didn't feel were developing fast enough. The Shadow Proclamation would frown on that sort of behaviour nowadays; back then, it was progress. The Wounds created in the fabric of Reality at the removal of Gallifrey—Eternity's Fortress—threaten the entirety of the Web of Time, and it is these  _wounds_  that she and the Doctor must fix.

The last part of the Prophecy, "…Gallifrey's Reborn Son who with the mighty light of ten thousand suns, challenged Infinity, but was soon gone, taking with him Time's Children and Eternity's Fortress," strikes Rose as strange. It echoes within her, and she doesn't agree with Romana's thinking that it speaks of Gallifrey's destruction from the Moment. Rose feels it's more. Also, the Moment itself resonates within her. There is an odd tingle of familiarity Rose can't quite place, and it slips away from her.

Rose awakens from the sharing on the featureless white ground with her head in Romana's lap. The room with tea and table are gone and it is just the two of them in the endless waste. It's no wonder that Romana is lonely.

"Rose! I am sorry. I did not realise there was a trigger for all that knowledge in there. I can't believe that the TARDIS shared all that with you. It is so…personal. I agreed to build the Pools, because selfishly I knew they would save the Doctor. I knew he would be absolutely necessary to the Universe in the aftermath of our destruction; but I had no idea how hard on him it would be, or that it would force a regeneration. All I knew is that they worked. I am glad you are going to break them. They served the purpose they were intended for, but they are a violation of his mind, and I am glad they will be gone," she tells Rose with heartsfelt resolve. Rose can sense that there will be no convincing her otherwise; and now that they have shared so much, she understands Romana's wish.

Sitting up, Rose pulls Romana into an embrace. She is at first stiff, but relaxes in a moment. The women share their love and their grief for the same man, whom they only ever wish to help, never hinder. Rose sympathises with the knowledge that both of them would die for the Doctor in an instant if they knew it would save his life. He was too important to lose. The Universe, Time, and so many peoples great and small depended on the moral tenacity of this one lonely man.

Romana has already sacrificed herself once, and it hurts Rose's hearts that she must do it again; but she will honour her decision by not arguing. Separating with matching smiles and tears, they stand ready to implement their plan to save the Doctor one more time.

"Rose, I am not a member of the Doctor's House, though we are of the same Chapter. But as the last President of Gallifrey, I bless your union with the Doctor. May it be fruitful in Love, bountiful in Wisdom, and cherished for the fullness of Time," Romana says formally; then standing on tiptoe, she kisses Rose lightly on the forehead. "Let that silly man be finished with loneliness. Sister of my Hearts, be well and trust yourself."

"Thank you, Romana. I would never have thought I would be given the gift of you; Sister of my Hearts, go well and be at peace," Rose formally replies.

Tearfully, Rose smiles at Romana one last time. Romana is calm and more relaxed than she has been the entire time Rose has been in the "nothing place." Happy for the first time in years, Romana actually grins at Rose like this is going to be the best game ever, and the grin reminds Rose of her Doctor. Romana lifts her hands bringing them close together, palms facing each other, and Rose sees light between them. Looking up into Romana's eyes, she hears, "Goodbye Rose." Romana touches her palms together, and Rose is back at the edge of the Pool. Three minutes and 7 seconds have passed since she touched the "liquid." Looking down into the mercury coloured substance, Rose see's Romana wave at her, and go striding off into the distance.


	23. Tales of a TARDIS Thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose finds new purpose and the Doctor finds unexpected truths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As we all know, I do not own anything from Doctor Who, but I did borrow some dialog from TDoTD. :-)

**23 Tales of a TARDIS Thief**

Rose leans against the Pool, watching Romana walk away. When she can no longer see her, she turns and slumps to the floor laying back against the outside of the Pool. She wishes there was a way to save Romana. Not that she has a spare body lying around anywhere. She's just angry that she doesn't have a solution she likes. Sighing, she leans her head back looking up at her Doctor and says, "What am I going to do with you? Where would you go in here, it's your mind. Did you hide? Were you thrown somewhere? Grrr…this is not how I was anticipating my day ending."

**_~My Wolf, I can save Romana.~_ **

"What?! How? She's dead and just the memory of herself," Rose asks.

**_~That is somewhat true, but Time Lords are not easy to kill, and as you noticed, she copied herself into the structures she built. Her essence is in them, and I can move that into my matrices—saving her.~_ **

"Oh! That's wonderful. Would we be able to communicate with her?"

**_~If she wished it, yes. She will have her own space to keep her intact.~_ **

Rose feels like she's missing something. Darling is telling her this like she's done it before, as if she has more Time Lords stored inside Her.

"Darling, do you have more people stored in your matrices? More Time Lords or anyone else?"

She can't quite decide if this is creepy. What if there's a copy of her in there, would she know?

**_~Oh yes, my Wolf. Romana and my Thief's matriarch placed a copy of the entirety of the High Council's Matrix within me when they were preparing for the Moment. She could stay within the Matrix or choose to be separate, with an avatar and access to you and my Thief.~_ **

Rose is so surprised that she can't speak for a moment; she knows exactly what the Matrix is. Darling is harbouring the entire storehouse of knowledge from the Time Lords. Billions of years worth of history and individual personalities, stored in one magnificent being. Wow!

"But that would be huge. I can see pictures of it in my mind, and I would think that would be big even for you. Does the Doctor know?"

**_~ He does not know. He has never asked. I was ancient when my Thief found me. He is not my first pilot. I have known many Time Lords. I am the only one of my kind I know alive, but I was one of the oldest when we were many. My matrices expand as I age; I grow. It is one of the reasons I was to be decommissioned. I had grown to the point where they felt I was 'wilful and erratic', and that was unacceptable in a fully functioning time capsule. My Thief is also 'wilful and erratic', and he suits me perfectly.~_ **

Feeling somewhat smug about her Thief, Darling shares her first meeting of the Doctor and Susan, with Rose.

_Rose sees the Doctor as a small, old man, sneaking around a time capsule repair area, snooping on the ageing ships. Passing several, he doesn't notice a girl step out from between two of them until she speaks, "Doctor. Doctor!"_

_He turns to see a dark haired girl he doesn't recognise take a couple of steps toward him. Afraid he's been caught, he responds curtly, "Yes? What is it? What do you want?"_

_Stopping and coming no closer, she replies,"Sorry, but you're about to make a very big mistake." He looks around to see if anyone has noticed her arms over her chest and leaning against another capsule next to the one he and Susan were just about to make off in, the mystery girl continues with a slight smile, "Don't steal that one. Steal_ **_this_ ** _one. The navigation system's knackered, but you'll have much more fun."_

_Poking his head back into the first capsule, he calls quietly for Susan, who joins him at the door. After a moment, they both move to the suggested capsule. The Doctor attempts to thank their benefactor, but turns to find her gone. Oddly, he doesn't feel suspicious. Upon entering the capsule, he's greeted warmly, and everything just feels…right._

"Thank you, Darling. I hadn't seen the Doctor  _old_  before; which him was that? And who was the girl who helped?"

**_~That was my first Doctor, and the girl was…helpful. I am starting to feel my Thief fade. We must find him, and disassemble the Pools. I will save Romana as soon as you release the energy contained within them.~_ **

The disturbing notion of her Doctor fading pushes any thought that Darling was being evasive straight from Rose's mind.

"I don't know what to do first. If I break the Pools, I'm afraid I won't find his consciousness before his body dies, but if I don't free his body what will the consciousness come back to?"

**_~My Wolf, the Doctor's body will be fine for a time. Leave his mind, and I will show you how to set up the monitors in the Infirmary. I can keep him alive for some time without his consciousness present, and I can heal the damage done by the overload to his body, flushing it of the extra hormones that are currently oxidising.~_ **

"Alright, I'll go prepare Jack," Rose says as she stands from beside the Pools and pulls herself from his mind. She sits up on the exam table just as Jack walks into the Infirmary.

"Rose, how does he look?"

"Well, like everything else that's happened in the past few days, it's bloody complicated!" Rose says with evident frustration. Climbing off the bed and scrubbing her face with her hands, she starts moving around the med-bay nodding to herself and connecting the Doctor to several machines. Jack comes over, helping her get him covered in temperature stabilising blankets, and moving the scanner over that will monitor his vitals.

He stays silent the entire time, waiting for Rose to clue him in. Not getting anything from her for several long minutes after they are set up, he decides to push her a little.

"Rose. You said it's complicated. How? Tell me how to help."

"I don't know that you  _can_  help, Jack. At least you can watch him while I work in his mind. Apparently, he was preemptively trying to be ready for the wake up. He was trapped in his mind when the reset happened, and he knew what could be coming, so he was readying himself by building partitions and upping hormone production while he was still in cryo-sleep. Because his body was basically in stasis, all his changes dumped at once when he awoke. The combination of John activating the torc and the Doctor's bodily changes activated the torc and the collar together, creating an overload. Time Lord brains aren't designed to seize, so his whole consciousness split itself in two—the biological systems and the Personality. The biological system is trapped in a stasis field in his mind, and his Personality is lost in there somewhere. So the TARDIS just told me what to do to support his body once I go in and destroy the stasis generator in his mind. Then, I can go digging for his Personality. Sound like fun?" She finishes with a grim expression throwing her hands in the air.

Jack has no idea what the hell she's talking about. How do you have stasis fields in your head? Right. Doesn't matter. Rose needs his help. She'll hopefully explain it to him later in a language he can understand.

"Rose, I will do whatever you need me to. Just point and shoot me," he smiles a reply at her, hoping it will help.

"Jack, you're a good friend," she says, taking a calming breath. She doesn't smile, but her shoulders relax a little, and she nods to him in thanks. "I have to go back into the Doctor's mind, and try to find him so his parts join up. I have no idea how that's going to happen. The TARDIS seems irritatingly confident, so I'm just going to run with it, and assume this is somehow vaguely normal Time Lord weirdness."

"Sure, Rose. I'm here," is what he says, but he's thinking that if this is normal, he doesn't want to know what weird is.

Rose climbs back up on the table, and lays on her side next to the Doctor. Taking his right hand in her left, she reaches up and places her right fingertips against his temple. Upon making the connection, Jack sees her hand fall limply to the Doctor's chest. Jack has no idea how long this will take, so he looks around for a comfortable chair, and there is one right behind him with a table and dinner already laid out.

"So, this is going to take awhile, I guess," he says out loud to the TARDIS. She doesn't reply, but there are now also several books to choose from. "Right." Jack sighs as he reaches for a roll and the top book. Sitting, he gets comfortable. Gazing steadily at Rose and the Doctor for a minute, he sighs and turns his attention to his book.  _/Tale of Two Cities. Oh, okay, never read that one,/_  he thinks as he opens the first edition copy of Charles Dickens' classic.

* * *

Rose slides effortlessly into the Doctor's mind again. She's prepared this time for the lack of resistance, but still experiences a pang of regret that a Doctor isn't there to catch her. Looking over to the Pools with resignation, Rose walks to them and places her palms against the lower edge. Looking over it and into the silvered liquid, she sees the great expanse of nothing. Rose hopes with all her might that the TARDIS is correct, and she can save Romana.

Taking a deep breath and thinking over what Romana showed her to do, she doesn't even start to reach for Bad Wolf before Rose senses Her stir. Feeling a soft brush of wind against her hair, Rose lifts her head and opening her eyes, turns to look to her side. Beside her smiling, is the version of herself from the vision she'd had with Romana in the Pool during the glitch. Gasping, Rose turns to face Her fully. She looks much like Rose, but Her hair is wildly disheveled, and she's dressed like a refugee from the 1980's music scene. All of this would seem ridiculous were it not for Her luminous, dark eyes. As Rose's gaze meets Her eyes, they flash gold and She grins like a loon.

"Bad Wolf," Rose says in wonder.

_-Yes and no. I am, and I am not. Myself I am, but I am that as well, though some call me the Moment-_

Her voice is Rose's, but with the hollow quality that Rose recognises from the Doctor's memory of Satellite 5.

"Well, that's confusing. Romana showed me that you're made from pieces of me—the TARDIS, Bad Wolf, and the Sphynx. How can you also be a moment? Wait, you mean  **the**   **Moment.** The weapon that destroyed Gallifrey! But, how…?"

_-Yes, I am that, now. I will be this later…earlier…I get confused. I was/will be/have been on Gallifrey, but now I am here-_

She continues to smile, but now she's walking around the other side of the Pool to stand opposite Rose.

_-These we must remove for Time's Champion to be made whole. It is time he remembered-_

"Yesss….the TARDIS said I must release the energy, and the Doctor's mind will heal the damage."

Rose can tell that She's being evasive. Rose was perfectly aware of the kind of power Bad Wolf was capable of, and that it could certainly be a weapon; but the Doctor had never made it sound like it was a woman who looked like she hadn't combed her hair in a week and bought her clothes at charity shops.

Hopefully, the Doctor will be able to answer her questions when she gets him back. She'll try to remember to ask…right after she snogs him into next Tuesday.

_-Ahh, slow path. This is good…I will have more Time -_

She grins at Rose with her own tongue in tooth smile. This is now the weirdest thing Rose has ever experienced. This is turning into some kind of day. It never occurred to her that they could properly talk. As a composite being within her, she had just assumed it would only be impressions—much like the Doctor and the TARDIS. This must have something to do with them being inside the Doctor's mind. She was basically a dream made manifest. That's definitely interesting. That would mean She could interact with all of the mental structures in here. That wasn't so good if She decided to be uncooperative.

_-My Rose, you are. We have the same goals. I will only help, never hinder; we are the same in this place. Just easier for you to see me-_

Rose has no choice but to trust her. They are now a part of each other after all.

"Right. Well, let's do this. I will disrupt the Pools' structure, and you'll siphon the energy to the TARDIS?"

 _-Yes!-_  Bad Wolf says with evident glee. Rose rolls her eyes, but she's charmed by the fact that She isn't scary or even worried. This helps Rose relax a bit. They both place their hands against opposite sides of the Pools, and tipping their heads back identically, they begin to sing.

At first they're in perfectly pitched unison, but then Rose diverges from the chord slightly. As they continue building their song, they interweave their intentions into it. The upper and lower walls of the Pools begin to glow gold. A stream of particles flow away from each of them, converging into a river of energy that streams up and away from the Doctor, presumably out and to the TARDIS. However, Rose and Bad Wolf are much too busy to notice. As they work, the Pools slowly empty of their light and dark liquids. Once clear, the stones of the walls themselves fade into the streams one by one. Moving around what is left of the Pools, they circle until there is nothing but a hazy outline remaining on the mindscape's floor.

Walking toward each other across where the Pools had been, their Song finishes again in unison. He is still suspended, but they can see the Doctor's colour is much better; though he has yet to move. This is the point where Rose was hoping something awesome would just happen; but as the seconds tick by, it's obvious that's not going to be the case.

"What do we do now?" she asks Bad Wolf.

_-There must be joining-_

"Yes, of course. Romana said he was split, personality from physiology. So, we'll Sing him back together!" Rose grins at Bad Wolf. Bad Wolf can tell Rose does not entirely understand, but she will soon enough. With a grin of her own, Bad Wolf starts this time, and they sing the Doctor down.

Rose follows Bad Wolf's lead and they Sing of Joining—of coming together, completeness. Once the Doctor is within reach, Bad Wolf begins writing in the air the beginnings of a Manifestation. This one starts with a single simple golden circle around the Doctor.

There are a great many words in Gallifreyan that represent completion. It is genetically instilled in them, even despite Rassilon's tampering, to seek out that which makes them feel whole. It's no wonder that a race with the power to regenerate—becoming a new person, but with all the previous memories—would sometimes feel fractured. Also, being telepathic, they can reach a level of connectedness that is not known by many other peoples. The Doctor is literally separated from the rest of himself, and Rose is determined to fix it.

Rose and Bad Wolf fill the space around the Doctor with the words of wholeness. As they sing, Rose loses herself to her Song. She is completely focused on her intention to heal the Doctor to the exclusion of everything else around her. Bad Wolf, on the other hand, has now taken the supporting role in the Song, and is watching as all the many pieces that are the Doctor converge on the Foyer.

There are many more faces than any one Time Lord ought to have. Bad Wolf is not surprised by this. The portion of her that is still original to herself has been aware of Him since before He was known as the Doctor. This version of herself has already interacted with one of Him. The Foyer is soon filled with men all watching either Rose, Bad Wolf, or the latest incarnation of themselves suspended in a cocoon of words made from golden light and intention.

Instinctively knowing the moment when the last of the Personalities has arrived, Rose changes the Song to encourage Oneness. So focused in her Manifestation, she has yet to realise the extent of the crowd around her. Spreading her hands wide, all of the words part and become individual symbols—hanging in the air a moment, shining. Then, Rose slowly starts bringing her hands together, and the words begin to join into one concept. As she's doing this, the first incarnation, a tall blonde fellow that looks uncannily like her current Doctor, walks toward the next, reaching out a hand to touch him. At the touch and in a flare of blue light, the first incarnation is gone with only the second remaining. This chain continues with each incarnation of the Doctor reaching for his next self.

With each joining of personalities, the blue flare gets larger and more complex. The coalescence that leaves behind the final eleven personalities is particularly huge, and pulls Rose back to herself within the Song. Opening her eyes, she sees the older Doctor from Darling's memory, the one who stole her, step toward another man with short straight, dark hair and a benign smile. At their touch, the older one is gone in a flash with only the dark one remaining. Rose suddenly realises she is seeing the Doctor's past selves.

Still bringing her hands together and singing of their coming oneness, Rose watches as each of the Doctors continues the chain toward completion. They flow smoothly from one to another. Grey hair and cape to tall, curly, and scarfed… blonde and…(was that celery?), to blonde and an eye-bleeding coat. Next on to a small, dark man who stares at Rose a moment with a particularly penetrating gaze. He leads into a handsome young man with curly chestnut hair and a sad smile. This one hesitates for several moments, gazing at his next form with something akin to remorse, before moving to touch him. This joining is again particularly powerful, a dark electrified purple instead of the previous blue, and Rose almost loses her Song; but Bad Wolf is there to stabilise her.

The Doctor that steps away from that joining is older and hard. The lines of his body are rigid, and he carries himself like a soldier. This is Romana's Warrior Doctor. Rose remembers him from the strange flashback while she was speaking to Romana. His posture is so completely different, and he is so much older even than the first Doctor she had seen. He's staring intently at Bad Wolf, pausing before he moves on, like he recognises her. Rose watches something pass between them, and then Bad Wolf smiles and nods at him. He visibly relaxes, and with a soft smile of his own, he steps forward, calmly reaching Rose's first Doctor; with his leather coat and piercing blue gaze. Palm open and splayed, he lays his hand against his next incarnation's shoulder with what seems like a look of relief. In another blinding flash that's blue again, he's gone; and with a gasp, her big-eared, daft grinning Doctor is gazing at her with obvious love in his eyes.

Her hands have nearly met, and her first Doctor reaches out a hand towards her, but doesn't touch, letting it fall back to his side.

"Look at ya. I knew you'd figure it out—my brilliant Rose. We're nearly finished now. Thank you," he says to her. She adds more love to her Song for him, and with a grin, he strides directly into the shining sphere of gold containing her Doctor, reaching up to lay his hand against the other's chest between his hearts.

* * *

Outside in the Infirmary, Jack is startled awake when all the medical machinery goes off at once. Jumping to his feet, he takes two quick steps to the bed's side. The Doctor and Rose are both surrounded by a sphere of gold dust, much like when they worked the Manifestations yesterday. Rose looks pale, but Jack can see from the monitors that the Doctor's hearts have stopped, and the machines are trying to stabilise his systems. Jack is just about to panic when suddenly, the Doctor gasps, chest lifting slightly off the table. Jack relaxes as the machines quiet, and the Doctor is now breathing normally; but he notices the gold dust is still swirling through and around both Rose and the Doctor. Reaching out a hand to touch Rose's, Jack receives a shock from the golden sphere.

 _/Okay! Not my business then,/_  he thinks, shaking his hand to alleviate some of the tingle. Pulling the chair closer, he sits back down to continue watching. Checking his watch, Jack sees that he's been asleep for 4 hours. That's plenty of time, and he's determined to be awake in case there's anything he needs to do.

* * *

The explosion of light and energy from the joining of the final two Doctors renders everything dark and silent in its absence. Rose is sprawled face up on the floor near where the Doctor fell, unconscious. Bad Wolf remains. She sits near the Doctor and Rose waiting, keeping all of them in the Doctor's mind. The Doctor is the first one to rouse himself. Groaning, he puts his hands back and levers himself into a sitting position. Looking up finally, he spots Rose first.

"Rose!" he yelps as he starts toward her.

 _-Stop,-_  says Bad Wolf calmly. The Doctor was so focused on Rose, that he hadn't noticed Her. He rocks back onto his bum again in surprise at seeing another version of Rose kneeling near him.

"Err…hello? Who, or rather what, are you then? Where? How?" he finishes, looking her up and down. She looks like Rose but with weirdly dark eyes. Looking past her and around, he can see that they are in his Foyer…  **His**  Foyer! They are in his mind, but the Pools—they're gone! His head feels clear and blessedly quiet. The damn things had hummed, and he hadn't realised how much until they were gone.

"The Pools! Where did they go? How….but we're still in my mind. I don't understand," he says to Bad Wolf in frustration. She just smiles at him. Lifting a hand, she invites him over to sit next to her at Rose's side. He's unsure why this apparition isn't answering him, but he  **is**  worried about Rose; so he joins her.

 _-My Rose is very weak. She gave much of herself to save you. Are you worth it-_  she asks in her hollow voice, pinning him with a look that sears his soul and lays it bare.

"I..I want to be," he stammers. How can this, whatever this is, ask him such a thing in his own mind? How the hell did she get in here anyway? Just because she looks like…Rose. Suddenly, he knows exactly who this is…

"Bad Wolf," he whispers, staring at her in awe now, where moments ago he was working up a good mad.

"Yes," she says simply, now sounding just like Rose. Eyes flashing gold, she continues, "We are not finished yet. There is one part left to Unite; but first, I must give you back what I hid from you. It is time. The Moment has come again."

"What? What moment? What are you going on about? What could you have taken from me?" He's trying unsuccessfully to hide in his babble, but she can see right through him. It's easy, really.

"Doooc…torrrr," she says mockingly. "You were much quieter before, or were you not? Do you like bow-ties?" She is looking at him closely, but then shrugs, reaching out a hand to him, beckoning.

He stares at it and then back to her face, at a loss for how to respond. "What about Rose?" He asks.

"Come on then, I know you want to see what I took. I am keeping us in your mind for now. She is resting. We aren't ' _going_ ' anywhere. You won't believe me, but you must. You and my Rose have a great deal of work to do." She smiles at him. She feels something close to regret for taking the memories from him. It was necessary at the time, and it was her price. But seeing the echoing vastness of grief in the Doctor's eyes fills her with sadness. He has suffered long enough. It is time for the healing to begin.

Her hand is still out for him to take. She wriggles her fingers at him. Looking back up into Her eyes, almost undoes him. There is so much sympathy and compassion in them, but with the timeless depth of Eternity. She may look like Rose right now because She chooses to, but this is not his Rose. This is something much greater. Taking Her hand, opens a doorway in his mind that he didn't even know was there. She is/was/will be the Moment.

* * *

The Doctor stands in a space holding the hand presented to him. They are surrounded by images of himself during the Time War, when he couldn't bare to call himself the Doctor. These, he recognises. Next, there are images of him with the Moment. He landed far from the Citadel and carried It to a convenient barn. He attempts to open It. Though It whirrs and clicks, It does nothing. Suddenly, he sees Rose is there. Of course, as this War Doctor, he didn't know her yet. She reveals to him that She will be Rose Tyler, but is then Bad Wolf. "Are you afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, Doctor?" She asks him.

She's  ** _the Moment_**! The interface—after stealing it, his mother had mentioned to him that the weapon called the Moment was sentient, and had been kept deep in the archives because it didn't choose to be helpful. The War Doctor knew the other Time Lords wouldn't touch it. They wouldn't like the idea of being judged for their decisions. Well, he was used to that—let It judge. So long as It did what he needed, It could judge him all It wanted. He had to stop this War before either Rassilon's attempts proved successful, or the Daleks reached the Matrix and the Eye. Neither eventuality could be allowed to happen. Not if the Universe was to continue, damaged or otherwise.

The images continue….The current Doctor sees his past self confused by Her, by time fissures— Elizabethan England….wait…That was  **him** (his current him), and then…was that Future Him? He'd finally lost the ears, but he has that…that chin to look forward to? Blimey!

Turning, he looks at the woman holding his hand while they are still surrounded by the images of his life playing out around them…three versions of it.

"What is this? I haven't met Elizabeth I yet. What's going on?" He doesn't understand. These feel like memories. Surely he isn't being shown things he shouldn't know. Is this an alternate Timeline? What about Gallifrey and the War Doctor? He regrets what happened, but this—none of this is what he remembers.

"Some of this is what  _actually_  happened. Some of this is what would have happened without the Sphynx—without Rose at your side. This is why I am now restoring to you what I took. These events will not happen this way…not for this you. But it is imperative that the outcome remain the same, so you will need to insure these events occur." She turns away from him, but keeps a firm grip on his hand as they watch the Doctors work their way through the Zygon crisis.

The Doctor watches as the War Doctor returns to Gallifrey, ready to use the Moment. He knows that feeling well. The regret and self loathing, but filled with an iron determination to sacrifice as many as necessary to save everyone else. Oh, he hated that decision. He doesn't want to watch it again.

"Stop! I remember this part, though without you, and I was on my TARDIS above Gallifrey. Why are you showing me this? I don't want to watch my people die again. Alternate timeline or not, they die; and I don't want to see it." He tries to remove his hand, but She has it locked in an iron grip.

"This is what happened, Doctor. This is the  **truth** —feel it coming back to you. What you think you know, I put in your mind. I had Romana build the Pools, not to save you from me—as she thought, but to keep you from knowing the truth. They stored the true memories away from you. I knew you would hate the Pools and wouldn't touch them. The Pools were my price for using me. I  ** _am_**  the Moment."

Looking at her in surprise, the Doctor sees her eyes glow, and the images pause just as two more TARDIS were materialising in the barn.

"How many children do  **you**  think died on Gallifrey that day Doctor?" She demands of him, locking him with Her glowing gaze.

"Two point 47 billion," he chokes out. Why would She ask him that? He had worked on that calculation for weeks as his past self, till he was able to figure within a few hundred. He wanted to know exactly how much potential he had destroyed.

"You are wrong," She says simply. Releasing him from Her gaze, She starts the images up again. They watch as the other two Doctors come to support the decision made by their predecessor. He shouldn't have to do it alone.

This is the weird partial memory he had experienced earlier. Those were his hands, along with past and future's hands. He knows exactly what that button feels like against his palm. He almost closes his eyes seeing his original memory start to rear up in his mind. Just as he's about to let his eyelids slip shut though, Future him pauses. The Doctor watches the conversation between his future self and his companion…Clara. She looks so familiar, but he can't place why.

His attention now rapt as the scene plays out, he watches as they come up with another solution, one that somehow involves all of his lives and stasis cubes, cuppa soups, and…

"Oh my God, Gallifrey may not be gone," he says in an astounded whisper. Turning to the woman sharply, "Is this true? Is Gallifrey whole?" Clutching his head with his free hand, feeling the revealed memories slide into place, he looks desperately up at this creature wearing the features of the woman he loves. The creature who has told him She is both the Moment and Bad Wolf. "Did it work? Did I…save…them?"

Bad Wolf stares at the Doctor for a long moment before She answers, "Do you remember the painting we just saw?"

"Yes, No More or Gallifrey Falls; I don't like either title, but what does that…"

"That is wrong. The title is Gallifrey Falls No More. Now what do you think that means?" She looks at him expectantly.

No longer capable of supporting himself as everything he has believed to have happened is reversed, he falls to his knees. She allows his hand to slip free of hers, as they appear in the same location in the Doctor's mind as they were previously. Rose is still laying there, unconscious between them. The Doctor leans forward, gliding a cool hand over her forehead and brushing a stray lock of hair from her eyes where it had fallen when she collapsed.

He has so many questions, but only one mouth. The first one that finally tumbles out is not the one She was expecting.

"How? How are you the Moment and Bad Wolf?"

Laughing lightly, She seats herself, and resting Her head in Her hand, looking at the Doctor.

"The Moment was not crafted by Time Lords. It was actually made by an Eternal. Which one no longer matters, but they were able to trap a portion of me within the architecture of their weapon. The problem for them was I wasn't interested in being utilised without understanding why. No one wants to be judged for their actions when they are committing death on such a scale. They only want to feel divinely inspired or righteous. I am uninterested in righteous inspiration, I am interested in Balance. Only once was I used, and never again.

"When Rose took in the Heart of your TARDIS, she became one with another portion of the Universe that is at the source of myself—your TARDIS and the Sphynx. Together we strive for Balance. Rose threw herself across  _Time_  and  _Space_  to help us maintain that Balance. She was there in that barn with us, as much as she was on Satellite 5, saving you from the Daleks. She is now a part of us, and we…her. There is something coming Doctor, and you both will be needed."

He nods. He has felt that for some time now. The feeling of foreboding that had started at the 2012 Olympics. He'd assumed it was related to losing her at Canary Wharf, but it had only continued to intensify, even after he got her back. Subconsciously he had known it would involve he and Rose, but he had been avoiding that realisation.

Choosing now to ignore it a little longer, he asks, "And Gallifrey? You're letting me believe it's safe, but where is it? How will I find the pocket Universe? It could be anywhere."

"It could be, but it is where it needs to be," She says with an enigmatic smile.

Feeling an indignant answer come to his lips, he swallows it when She raises Her hand, forestalling his complaints.

"I know it is hardly the answer you want, but you understand that you cannot know everything."

Thinking back, he remembers an instant She showed him, where he demands of his future self to know, for once in his very long life, where he's going, and the reply, "No. You really wouldn't," stunned him. The expression on future him's face made it very clear that it was, yet again, more unpleasantness. But that wouldn't happen that way now, so maybe things are looking up after all.

"Fine. So, you said that was an alternate timeline; it will happen differently now?" he asks, seeing if he can get anywhere with this line of questioning.

"Yes Doctor, it will be different. This time you won't be alone," She says, copying Rose's tongue in tooth grin.

He's about to launch into more questioning, when Rose begins to stir between them. He is instantly distracted by her, and all his questions fall right out of his head. So much has happened, and he hasn't been paying proper attention to her being unconscious on the floor of his mind. Feeling guilty, he ignores Bad Wolf and focuses wholly Rose, taking her hand in his.

Watching the two of them a moment, Bad Wolf smiles broadly at the pair. Leaning forward, She takes both of their hands in Hers. Looking the Doctor straight in the eyes, She says, "There is one part left to Unite." And with an abrupt pop, they are out of his mind and laying next to each other on a bed in the Infirmary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Four more chapters after this one! :-) I've decided I love kudos and wish Tsp and FF would add them. While not as nice as a few words in encouragement or criticism, it is still fun to know some likes your story. Thanks so much for staying with me. Cheers! :-)


	24. Time Enough for Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose has a surprise for the Doctor, but someone else has a surprise for both of them.

**24 Time Enough for Love**

The Doctor blinks at the change in surroundings thinking,  _/Unite, unite…What could she mean unite? Join, connect weld, fuse, bind…Bind! She means Bind. She wants me to_ ** _BIND_** _myself further to Rose./_

"You want Rose and I, to be  _Bondmates_?" he asks, incredulous. "That isn't entirely my decision you know, and really I have no idea if she'd even want to, with me anyway; and well….so much has happened. Really, we haven't even seen each other in two, no, three…hmmm…days…weeks, months…God, it feels like forever. A while, let's just say…a while. So you see, she needs to…well… and she doesn't even know what all….you can't possibly really mean a proper Binding. There's all this ceremony, and …and… Why? Why is it so important now?"

With this question he finally winds to a stop, realising that he's been speaking out loud, and Bad Wolf is gone. Feeling like an idiot, he squints over at Rose and wonders if she's noticed.

You can almost see the waves of uncertainty and guilt rolling off of the Doctor. Uncertainty that Rose would want to be saddled with someone as broken as he is. Oh sure, he's good at hiding behind all the bluster; but truthfully, he's terrified he'll make another decision that will kill millions more while trying to do the right thing, and then living the rest of his lives consumed by the guilt for those he was forced to kill. It is a never ending cycle.

 _/Which is exactly why this is about to happen,/_  thinks Rose. She'd become aware at Bad Wolf's statement that there was a final part to Unite, but remained silent. Rose can feel all the self loathing, regret, sadness, and fear from the Doctor through their Link. But she is also getting nudges from the TARDIS and Bad Wolf that this cycle must end. Rose knows exactly how to end it, and that's by sharing it.

He's right though, it does feel like he's been gone forever. Though actually short, this separation has given Rose more than enough time to be absolutely certain that she doesn't want to lose him ever again. Of course, being his Bondmate won't protect them. It isn't a magical shield against all danger, but it would mean that all those difficult decisions would be theirs together. She just hopes he doesn't refuse her.

Choosing now to be noticed, Rose opens her eyes and taking a deep breath, she sighs, "So tired. Did we…" Her eyes alight on the Doctor and widen at seeing him and at the change in their surroundings. She is half curled around him on the bed in the Infirmary, and definitely not in his mind anymore.

"Doctor?" she whispers. She  _had known_  he was there, but finally seeing him takes her breath away.

"Oh Rose—my precious girl. What have you done? Something brilliant and impossible, I'm sure," he says with tears coming to his eyes. Reaching out with his free hand, he lightly brushes a strand of hair from her eyes.

He had been so worried about her. Not knowing, and then thinking she was gone, just to return to not knowing again. It had nearly been too much for him. He would rather not continue at all if it meant continuing without Rose; as evidenced by his decision in the defunct timeline. That realisation alone makes the Doctor want to keep Rose with him for all his lives. It's not like he hasn't considered Bonding with Rose before. Now though, he wishes they'd actually gotten around to having that 'relationship conversation' they'd both been putting off.

The Doctor feels his mind trying to fill up with all the 'what if' scenarios that seem to plague so many of his musings about one Rose Tyler. This time, the epiphany he'd just had regarding his feelings for her, is finally the stronger force. Valiantly, he pushes all his fears and doubts down…down and away. His Rose had just rescued him…and he had so much to tell her…and what the hell…OHGODWHATIFSHESAYSNO?… Stop it! Just…

Taking a breath, he opens his mouth, but Rose reaches out and lays a single finger on his lips; conveniently stopping his attempt to speak. Smiling against her finger, he reaches for her other hand bringing it to his lips as his he gently kisses the fingertips. The intimacy of the gesture and the obvious love in his eyes, makes Rose gasp and feel more confident about her decision, while also starting a glowing well inside herself.

Looking deeply into the Doctor's eyes, Rose begins before he can say something that would make her lose her nerve.

"Doctor…I…"

"A-hem!" Jack coughs politely into his hand, hoping to not startle the couple too much. He was still sitting in his chair facing the bed in the Infirmary; hair mussed from sleeping in it, and the debris from hours of waiting on the table and floor around him. He hadn't realised they were awake until the Doctor started speaking out loud to no one, about Rose, binding, and Bondmates. He'd been just about to rush to their sides, when Rose spoke up; and it was such a beautiful, private moment, he couldn't bare to interrupt it. Being a bit freer about such things, it didn't even occur to him to feel particularly embarrassed about watching. That is until Jack saw Rose come to some sort of decision. He had a feeling something major was about to happen, and he was pretty sure he should  **not**  be there for it.

The occupants of the bed both start, and all four eyes flash to Jacks as they are made aware of his presence. "Hi there, I'm glad to see we all came through that with a minimal amount of dying. I was just…"

"Jack?!" the Doctor exclaims. "How in the bloody hell are you here?…wait, you're the Jack from the club. Rose said she saw you there, just before…." As more of those memories assert themselves, the Doctor's eyes narrow, and Rose feels him tense up.

"Doctor! It's okay. Jack helped me rescue you. I couldn't have done it without him. He had nothing to do with what John Hart did. He came with me; offering to help. It's our fault that he loses those memories of having been with the Time Agency, because he comes with us. I…sort of invited him—when you were taken. I was so scared." Rose wound down a little uncertainly. She had noticed the Doctor's flinch when she mentioned John Hart, and he was looking at her intensely; eyes flicking from side to side trying to read what all had happened in just her steady gaze.

Taking a breath and trying to slow her hammering hearts, Rose continues, "I know what happened to you on…on the ship in the collapsed timeline. I am so sorry. We tried to get to you, but we got lost, and then…then, Sontarans and Mars…and the Rift…Oh Doctor! There's so much!" With a cry, Rose throws herself into his arms, finally giving in to the suppressed emotions from the past day's traumas. He holds her close. Rubbing her back and humming to her in Gallifreyan as the flood of emotions works itself out, however his gaze is still intently pinned on Jacks.

Once the initial storm has passed, the Doctor finally releases Jack to look down at Rose. In her face, he can see all of the fear, determination, and love that had been keeping her going since he was taken. Her gaze is so filled with emotion that he's a little overwhelmed at the intensity of it. The old feelings of uncertainty and worth try to creep in around the edges of their reunion. But for once in his long, long life, he refuses to let them in. Rose loves him and Jack is a friend, even if he isn't yet the Jack he originally knew, he and Rose saved his life. He would  **not**  be here now, wrapped in Rose's embrace, with the soothing hum of his TARDIS welcoming him home, without Jack.

Keeping one arm firmly around Rose, hugging her close, he reaches out to Jack. "Hello, Jack. I'm the Doctor. Thanks for the rescue!" he says with a growing grin. And ever mercurial in mood, "Before you even start,  **don't**  call me Doc!"

With an answering grin of his own, Jack takes the Doctor's hand firmly, "Sure thing, Doc."

With an eye-roll on the Doctor's part and an exasperated huff, Rose and Jack dissolve into relieved giggles.

* * *

After cleaning up in the infirmary and making sure that they were all in fact safe and sound, the trio move to the kitchen. It seems to always be the place that makes anyone who comes to the TARDIS feel better. All the Universe's worries and tragedies seem smaller with a hot cup of tea and a belly filled with warm food.

Feeling a little awkward and not yet ready to talk about what had happened to all of them, Jack does a masterful job of keeping them entertained with stories of his escapades. It's easy and refreshing to have his light easy banter again in the TARDIS. Rose can almost imagine she's cuddled up to a leather jacket instead of the pinstripes.

Feeling her contentment through their Link, the Doctor glances down at Rose with a small smile that is so reminiscent of her first Doctor that she instantly sees him looking out of her current Doctor's eyes. Thinking of her last encounter with her leather clad Doctor causes Rose to flush, and she ducks her head further into his shoulder, letting her hair obscure her features. The Doctor isn't sure why she just hid from him, but the conflicting impressions he picks up from their Link makes his smile a little more than simply happy.

 _/Maybe Jack would like a little vacation,/_  the Doctor thinks as he allows several things he has wanted to discuss with Rose flit through his mind.

Jack is chattering away about some incident on Barcelus Major involving three Centauran dancing girls and their drummer, as he watches Rose and the Doctor's little exchange occur. They are so sweet together, but really! He might just have to offer himself up as a sacrificial lamb just to break the tension. Ever since they woke up, all he can pick up from them is a current of sexual tension that you could literally cut with a knife and serve with cake.

 _/I wonder if they would consider dropping me off somewhere warm, safe, and filled with the frisky sort, I could really use right now?/_  Jack thinks as he sees Rose duck her head.

The Doctor and Jack's eyes meet over the table, and with a final anecdote about how one should always know where all the snakes are when flirting with Centauran dancing girls, Jack comes to a smiling stop. Both Jack and the Doctor open their mouths to speak, when Rose launches herself from the Doctor's side and starts cleaning up the dishes, effectively halting their attempts to speak but causing a couple of confused expressions

"Doctor. You know, Jack has had a really trying time with all that's happened. I think it would be lovely if he got a little vacation somewhere nice before we go pick up Donna. I know they'll get on like houses, but a little down time would probably do him good. What do you think?" Rose hopes she isn't being too obvious, but if she doesn't have some time alone with the Doctor soon, she knows she will just burst! They have so many things to discuss, and some of those 'things' she is uninterested in Jack hearing or being in the TARDIS for.

"Ohhhhh, Rosie," Jack mock whines. "Are you trying to get rid of me?" He says as he leans back in his chair putting a pout on that no one believes. The excitement in his eyes is too easy for all three of them to see.

Still, they are all surprised when the Doctor and Rose both bust out in unison, "Yes!" Laughing now at their blushing faces, Jack gets up and pats both of them on the back on his way out of the kitchen.

"Finally! I was sure I was going to have to use my considerable powers of persuasion to get you to drop me off somewhere. You two need…."

"Jack!" Rose stops him. She isn't positive what he was about to say, but she was pretty sure it would be thoroughly embarrassing, and she was enough of that already. With more chuckling, Jack heads off to his room to pack.

"I request a nice, beachy haven for the sexually repressed, please. I have a lot of love to give!" They both hear from down the hall as he closes his door with more laughter.

* * *

"Alright, Jack. We'll be back to pick you up in a week, so.… What?!" The doctor turns to look at Jack, who he had heard come down the hall, but squeaked in surprise when he sees what all he has with him. At the Doctor's exclamation, Rose looks up from her book on the Jumpseat, and gasps seeing Jack with three trunks of stuff, several bags, and a large inflatable penguin.

"What…Where…Okay, let me try this again….What's up with all the stuff, Jack?" Rose finally manages to get out. She looks over to the Doctor meeting his wide gaze, and he nods in agreement.

"Oh, this? Please. A boy needs to be packed for every possible situation. The TARDIS completely understands, and helped me get ready. She has the best taste. I am prepared for every single thing…trust me!" he says with a purely lascivious grin that makes both the Doctor and Rose blush again. The TARDIS, for her part, hums a farewell to Jack that definitely feels like a sigh.

"Riiiight. Like I was saying, you've got a week. I'd tell you to stay out of trouble, but…" With a shrug, the Doctor indicates what he thinks about that.

"Excellent! Doc. Rosie. I'm outta here! See you soon." Pausing at the door, he can't help but poke and prod them one more time, "Now go get yourselves someplace private and…."

"Thank you, Jack! See you soon!" Rose had come up next to the Doctor, and interrupted Jack again to keep him moving. With a final grin and waves all around, the door clicks shut.

The Doctor and Rose head back up the ramp to the Console. The Doctor sends them into the Vortex, and turning to ask Rose a question, he sees her retreating form heading down the hallway. "I need a shower. See you in a few," she calls back to him.

The Doctor thinks that seems a bit odd; but he isn't picking anything negative up from their Link, so he leaves it alone. The TARDIS hums at him soothingly, and he smiles as he looks up at the Time Rotor. Leaning forward with both hands on the Console, the Doctor starts talking to his ship as he pulls out his favourite tools and lifting away a piece of grating, slides beneath Her Console to begin the ritual tinkering.

"Has Jack been flirting with you again? You know that's a little weird. Did you miss me? Oh look, your architectural stabilisers are completely out of whack! How did that happen…"

The incessant chatter soothes him, and the singing of the TARDIS filling his hearts and mind helps to reestablish his feeling of control and stability. Rose is right, so much has happened. He's still determined to use this time alone with Rose to its fullest; but right now, he is thoroughly grateful for these utterly familiar actions. No one but him and his ship. The TARDIS feels his need and lets him tinker about for a long while, only zapping him a couple of times when he got a little overzealous in her coolant flanges. Eventually she starts prodding him to leave. He hasn't actively started hiding yet, but she can feel the shift coming.

Getting shocked one last time bad enough the Doctor knows he will actually have a blister, he finally gives in. "Fine, fine! I'm done. Ow! Really? Were you trying to catch me on fire?"

Checking his time sense, he realises that he's been under the Console for five hours! Where's Rose? He's surprised that she didn't come out to find him. She hasn't entered the console room at all as far as he can tell. Feeling for her, he senses that she's relaxed and happy, but a little anxious. Querying the TARDIS, he heads off in search of Rose.

Abruptly, he finds himself outside the door to his room. Rose isn't in his room. He can feel her off deeper in the Ship. Turning to head down the hallway again, he makes a left and finds himself not only in his room, but at the entrance to his en suite.

"Right, so am I  _that_  offensive? What's with…ahhhh." Seeing himself in the mirror, he concedes that maybe going in search of Rose covered in grease and other TARDIS slime would be a bad idea. The Ship dims Her lights reprovingly at him at the thought of 'TARDIS slime', but She's glad he finally gets the picture. She and Rose have been making plans, and a filthy Time Lord will not help in them.

Stepping freshly washed into his bedroom, the Doctor dresses quickly, impatient to find Rose. The tinge of anxiety bothers him, and truthfully, he misses her. It's been hours since they spoke last, and her abrupt departure was a touch unnerving. Heading off down the hallway, he's glad that the TARDIS is no longer impeding his progress, and is actually helping. Blindly allowing the TARDIS to pull him through the Ship, he finally arrives at a door that he assumes will lead him to Rose. Seeing where he is, the Doctor smiles. He likes the notion that Rose would come to his mother's garden to relax.

Darling lets Rose know Her Thief is within the Gallifrey room. Receiving her acknowledgement, Darling takes away the door and adds more shielding to Her adjacent rooms. Then She leaves Her Time Lords to their business. So far, they are threading their way through the congested minefield of possibilities beautifully. This is one more step on that path.

* * *

The Doctor always feels a pang upon entering the Gallifrey room. This time though, it is a flash of blistering hope. The new sensation almost brings him to his knees in its intensity. He has hated himself a long time for ending Gallifrey, and would have added another 400 years to that building self loathing; if not for Bad Wolf. This new hope gives him a fresh bounce as he heads off to the garden and its Fountain. He has only taken few steps toward the woods when a disturbing thought intrudes on his happiness, causing him to stumble and roots him in place—what if She lied to him.

He only had Bad Wolf's words to give him the hope that billions of his people were still intact somewhere, somehow. What if he was being played? That had happened before. Damned Eternals, Guardians, and any number of other forces giving him hope and then dashing it to bits as their own schemes played out, with him only as a pawn. That isn't to say that he didn't put himself purposefully in harm's way plenty of times, seeking to be the next move in the Grand Game, and hoping for an advantage; but too many times those gambles had been paid out in blood and lives.

"You're worrying about being a pawn, aren't you? Worrying that Bad Wolf is deceiving you, while your Bondmate waits for you in the Garden. I see you're still an idiot."

At the first words, the Doctor had frozen, every muscle in him screaming that what he was hearing was wrong. Turning around slowly, he's afraid that what he has heard will be real, and even more afraid that it won't be, the implications towards his sanity not boding well; he finally lays eyes on a person he thought long lost.

"Romana. How?" Seeing her, in flowing traditional burgundy robes and  _not_  as the regeneration he last saw, but the one prior—the one he'd traveled with—the Romana that became President, and implemented so many reforms. The Romana he'd loved, if he wanted to truly be honest with himself.

"Really? Only two words for me after so long? I can't believe that your ability to bury yourself and anyone around you in your words has left you in your old age, Doctor," she teases him. "Your Rose and Bad Wolf, to answer your question. I copied my Matrix engrams into the Pools to control them, and when they were removed from your mind; your TARDIS saved me. I told Rose it was impossible, but she figured out a way, and here I am…well, my avatar anyway—I picked my favourite. Your Bondmate is quite extraordinary, by the way." Romana grins at the Doctor. She is greatly amused at his surprise. It almost makes up for his never visiting her within the Pools.

"You…we're…ummm. Rose and I aren't Bondmates." The Doctor is trying to wrap his head around why, let alone how, Romana could have embedded a copy of herself in the Pools, so instead he focuses on something that he still has control over.

"Yes, Doctor, you are. A Bond of the First Circle was enough to call her wife on Gallifrey for millennia. It is certainly viable here, in this place you have built." She spreads her arms wide, taking in the vistas and the forest of his personal Gallifrey. He had never had anyone else in here before Rose, and she wouldn't know he had built it if he hadn't told her. It wasn't her world to remember.

Focusing on Romana's words again he explains, "That isn't what I meant. It's true, but there hasn't been the ceremony or witnesses, plus I want more with Rose. I want to be fully Bonded. I never liked the surface commitments, even when I had one forced on me by the Family. We both know how that ended, though you weren't loomed yet," the Doctor says with sadness. He and his first wife may not have gotten along well, but he had tried his best for the children. He can't say that was good enough, but he had tried.

"Doctor, we will have plenty of time to debate the merits of what was once Time Lord society for as long as you like. I only came to you, to derail your paranoid tendencies before they interrupted your going to Rose. She's been waiting for you," she says with the enigmatic smile. That particular smirk had driven him spare when he wore a scarf big enough to hide in, when the extra words hadn't been enough. Becoming a tracery of gold, she disappears.

"Oh, she's going to enjoy that whole disappearing thing way too much," the Doctor mutters as he heads back to the path that will lead him to his original destination.

Thinking back on what just happened, he knows she's right. He had been caught up in his own paranoia. She would know she was right, too; insufferable woman! He finds though, that he is thrilled to have even this small piece of his home restored to him. Of course, Romana had been a hand full; she'd never let him get away with anything. With a shrug and a grin to himself—he's feeling charitable enough to admit that at times, it probably was for the best. Maybe he did need someone to keep him in check. Rose was already quite skilled at it, even when she was just human. Just human—when had Rose ever been 'just' anything? Smiling softly, he resumes his trek into the woods, bounce restored.

Reaching the inner patio, it takes the Doctor a moment to find Rose. She's on the other side of the small stone wall. As he approaches, he begins to realise she's talking to someone. He hadn't heard them over the sounds of the Fountain. Thinking it must be Romana, the Doctor is completely unprepared for the sight he's greeted with as Rose turns and steps forward to take his hand. It is then that he notices Rose is dressed in deep golden robes traditional to Gallifrey, and his mother is dressed in their House colours, blue and grey. Rising from where she'd been seated on the wall, he can see she looks just as she did when he was a child on his way to the Academy. At nearly two meters tall, and with a mane of thick, dark-red hair, she is hardly forgettable, but it's her large expressive deep chocolate brown eyes mirroring his current set, that he remembers the most.

Mouth agape, the Doctor can't seem to find a focus between his mother and Rose. Every thought in his head grinds to a halt, and it isn't until his respiratory bypass can no longer sustain his held breath, that his mind finally lurches back into action. Resting his gaze on Rose, he can hear her calling to him, worry writ on her face and her hand twined in his.

"Doctor! Are you alright? I know it must be a shock, but I can…"

"Here, child, let me explain," the Doctor's mother says with a smile and warmth in her dark eyes. Taking a step forward toward her son, she raises her hands and the space behind her is filled with the image of an enormous green crystalline structure. It glows from within and appears to be constructed of millions of thin green crystals. The whole is eerily beautiful, and feels alive. Both the Doctor and Rose know what it is—the Matrix.

"My son, you will recognise this as the Matrix and how it looked on Gallifrey.  _This_  is how it looks now." Behind her, the image shifts to another crystalline structure, but this one fashioned in millions of shining gold, honeycomb shaped crystals stacked together. The life in these crystals was even more evident, and Rose and the Doctor can hear the singing.

"The TARDIS," breathes the Doctor. "You placed a copy of the Matrix in my TARDIS. My God! It's been here the entire time. You've  _all_  been here the entire time, and I didn't know. Mother, I…," he trails off, eyes shining. He reaches a hand towards her but lets it fall, knowing she is basically a highly sentient hologram and he won't be able to touch her; no matter how much he'd like to.

"I know, my son. You were so alone. I am so, so sorry. I was in stasis, a part of the Matrix, until earlier today, when Romana went looking for me. I have been chatting with Rose about you; catching up," she says this last with a twinkle of amusement that Rose had already recognised from her Doctor. "She is quite lovely, and I wholly approve of her ability to keep you out of at least  _some_  of the trouble you court." Her smile is filled with love, compassion, and a healthy dose of teasing.

The Doctor is grateful for the humour to alleviate some of his sadness. Choosing to take refuge in the teasing, "That is if she ever learns to not wonder off." He's expecting the affronted "Oi!" and smack on the arm as his due for the teasing. So caught up is he in seeing his mother, he doesn't notice Rose slip away to the other side of the Fountain after smacking him on the arm.

"Mother, I cannot begin to tell you how much it pleases me to see you, and I have so much to share, but why are you here? I know the how, but why?" Looking around, he spots another person coming toward the glade at a stately pace. As she comes into the light, he sees it's Romana in her full Presidential regalia. Dressed in white and gold with the high collar peculiar to the Time Lords on Council, wearing the Sash of Rassilon, and carrying the Rod, the Doctor notices the distinct lack of the seals of Rassilon on her robe and collar. No wonder, considering the difficulties she'd had in dealing with that mad man. Just as he's about to ask what the hell is going on, Romana slams the Rod of Rassilon onto the flags three times.

"I, Romanadvoratrelundar, the last elected President of Gallifrey, and the Lady Professor are summoned here today by the Lady Rosemariontyler of Powell House to witness her proposal of Binding to the Doctor, head of House Lungbarrow, twice President-Elect of Gallifrey, and current head of the Prydonian Chapter." Romana intones this grand formal statement and punctuates it with another loud crash of her staff against the stones. Choosing to ignore the Doctor, who once again is standing mouth agape, she nods to Rose who starts moving forward, coming around the side of the fountain with a length of gold ribbon in her hands.

Looking over to Rose, the Doctor swallows thickly. As she glides toward him intent plainly written on her face and looking somehow even more beautiful in the voluminous golden robes; he suddenly wishes he had his blue robe with him. He smiles just a little at the thought, knowing full well that this is the first time he has  **ever**  wanted to wear the over large stuffy robe. The TARDIS, doing what she does best, drops the robe directly at the Doctor's feet. Luckily he has just enough time to stoop and retrieve it sliding it around himself and clasping the inner brooches before Rose reaches him, ribbon in hand.

Calmly, and with all the poise he would expect in a queen, Rose stands easily in front of him. Lifting her right hand toward him palm up, she begins the formal proposal,

"I, Rose Marion Tyler, consent and gladly give myself. May we be fruitful in Love, bountiful in Wisdom, and Cherish each other for the fullness of Time. Would you join me in walking our Live's Paths together for as long as the Sun of our Love burns, and our Hearts beat as one?" she asks formally, her eyes filled with love and tears and hope as she gazes up at him, praying he won't refuse her.

The Doctor's eyes widen in surprise at her Offer. The beginning of the vow was the one commonly used in First Circle Bindings, but the last was  **only**  used when couples desired the fullest Bond possible—the unbreakable Bond that would mingle their energies and unite their lives. Rose is just about to worry when he gives a shout of joy that should wake the stones around them. Attempting to school his features back into something resembling the solemnity the occasion would deserve on Gallifrey, he fails completely.

So, with a daft grin, he replies as formally as is possible, "I," (speaking his own name to her, which is immensely long, and nearly unpronounceable) "consent and gladly give myself. May we be fruitful in Love, bountiful in Wisdom, and cherish each other for the fullness of Time…," at this point he takes her offered hand with his left, and they both begin to glow with the light of their inner cores; his a brilliant changeable cobalt and hers a deep flickering gold.

Reaching forward from behind the surprised couple, Bad Wolf, looking as she did as the Moment, takes the ribbon from Rose's hand and waits patiently for them to continue. With a roll of her eyes and a silly grin of her own at their surprised expressions, she mouths the word - _joining_ \- at them, and nods her head for them to get on with it. Feeling compelled to continue, and not stop in wonder or trepidation at this new and unfamiliar development, the Doctor intones the final portion of the Binding as Bad Wolf ties the ribbon around their joined hands, "I will Bind myself to you, and walk the Path's of our Lives together, for as long as the Sun of our Love burns, and our Hearts beats as one."

Once the ribbon is tied and their essences have begun to mingle blue within gold, Bad Wolf takes their free hands in each of hers and begins speaking, looking out at the dazed expressions on the witnesses faces.

"I, (here Bad Wolf sings words in a language that doesn't exist, causing the TARDIS to tremble, and Rose's hearts to miss a couple of beats), consent and gladly give myself to my Rose, the Child Time loves and her Storm, Time's Champion for the fulfilment of all that is to come, all that has been, and all that is at this Moment. I Bind myself to you so you may accomplish together, what alone you could not." With a final smile at both of them, and a nod to Romana and the Lady Professor, Bad Wolf bursts into a cloud of gold that rises, swirling into the already mingled energies that are Rose and the Doctor. With an incandescent flash and a mighty concussion that is felt rather than heard as it spreads away from them, everything goes dark for the Doctor and Rose.

* * *

The waves throughout Space and Time that occur at the moment of their completed Bond extend well beyond themselves, reaching to the very ends of the Universe. There, playing with a Singularity, the Sphynx feels the overlapping tides of their Union wash over her. She feels their joy and completeness. The Bad Wolf and Rose Tyler—the Oncoming Storm and the Doctor are no longer separate pieces, but are now joined into two halves of a single united whole. The yin to the other's yang, and the force of Balance the Universe has been working towards forging for many years.

Smiling to herself, the Sphynx enjoys their happiness, and mirrors their Love with her own. There will be plenty of Time later for the work that must be done, but for now, they can have their fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I borrowed the name of the Doctor's mother from FriendlyQuark on FF. It's just so perfect! :-) If you haven't read her stories, you must! Start with Susan's War. They are all spectacular.


	25. The Joy Pandemic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and the Doctor finally have some alone time, that is, until Jack finds some trouble. Fluff, but still SFW.

**25 The Joy Pandemic**

Awakening slowly and with much blurriness, Rose is unsure of her surroundings. It takes her a minute to recognise the Zero Room. Taking a moment to assess her situation, she feels out her body, and it seems all her parts are in their proper places. Her head feels thick, but otherwise fine, and her time sense says she's only been unconscious for an hour.

 _/Where's the Doctor…,/_  she begins thinking, when the memories of what happened in the Gallifrey Room and what she had experienced, crash in on her. She feels panic start to creep in when…

- _Rose, I'm right here beside you. Everything's fine. Well, I think it's fine. No clue how we got to the Zero Room, but I feel fine, and you feel…ummm fine…,-_  she hears the Doctor in her mind; but as she realises this, she also notices it is much more than that. She can feel his concern for her, his love, and 'oh hey!' She also has a pretty clear idea that  **that**...right there...would be blatant desire. Flushing red, she looks over at the Doctor who is suspended next to her, wearing an extremely filthy grin—very Cheshire cat in its broad disregard for her blush.

"Good morning,  _wife_ ," he says aloud, with a chuckle.

Incapable of keeping a matching grin off her face she replies, "I hardly think being unconscious for an hour qualifies it as morning,  _husband_ ," she replies with an affected haughty tone, but unable to maintain it, begins to giggle. Reaching out, he pulls her to him, and after a round of intense tickling, he stops the game in its tracks with a kiss that melts her hearts and curls her toes.

The look on her face when he finally pulls back and the intensity of the kiss, draws a purring growl from the Doctor's throat.

"Umm, wow! Can we  _please_  continue this somewhere where we aren't floating? It's a little distracting. Do you think there's any reason we can't go out?" Rose asks the Doctor.

"You mean other than the lack of a door?" he says, looking over Rose and around the room.

Just then a door appears, and they are allowed to gently come to their feet, still embracing.

**_~My Thief and my Wolf, I am glad you are both well. I was worried when the Bonding was so powerful. I had taken precautions, but the backlash initially destroyed several rooms. They will be restored once I repair the damage. My Thief's Matriarch and the Brave One are safe. I brought you here to allow time for healing.~_ **

The TARDIS sounds extremely pleased with herself, even after describing what must have been colossal damage.

"What…ummm..right, well uh…Thank you?" splutters the Doctor. He had completely forgotten that the TARDIS had said he would hear Her as Rose does once they were bonded, and he can absolutely  _feel_  that She is utterly delighted to have surprised him so. Cheeky ship! Their previous 700 year relationship had been interesting before, when only images, a few word concepts and sensations were possible; now tinkering under the Console may have a whole new angle. Not being able to decide if that will be better or worse, he finally notices that Rose and the TARDIS are laughing at him.

Feeling a bit disgruntled, which has the marvellous ability to dampen his ardour, he looks at Rose, the Oncoming pout starting. This only serves to make her laugh harder as Rose steps forward to take his hand.

"I'm sorry, but your face—it's priceless. Darling was so looking forward to surprising you. She's really hoping that freer communication will keep you from getting so fried under the Console," Rose finishes with a knowing grin.

"Darling? Getting fried? Is that what you call it?" he says looking up at his ship. "Well, I have been doing a bang up job for 700 years keeping you in shape, and a little gratitude would  _not_  be out of place!" he says to the air around him, crossing his arms and flashing an indignant look that the TARDIS shows Rose his Sixth self was famous for.

**_~Indeed, my Thief. Without you, I would have been decommissioned and eventually would have chosen to pass back into the Universe from disuse. You saved me, and I have been grateful every moment since.~_ **

Arms falling open to his sides as his eyes go wide with fresh awe and affection, "Oh, you gorgeous, magnificent Ship! I would have died of boredom alone, if I'd stayed on Gallifrey, not to mention what may have happened to Susan. We saved each other. Thank you," he replies thickly, eyes glassy. All indignant thoughts are gone, and only a deep abiding love and trust remain for his dearest friend, which he sends to the ship to punctuate his words.

"Rose! This is totally amazing! Who knew the fringe benefits of being your husband would be so wonderful?" he grins at Rose, nearly bouncing in his toes.

With an eye roll, Rose takes him by the sleeve, and starts pulling him through the TARDIS who helpfully shifts Her rooms around for her.

"Wait, Rose…what are you doing? Shouldn't we check on the damage?"

"No," she says quietly but firmly.

"But it could be substantial, and we…" the Doctor continues.

"No," Rose states more emphatically.

"Roo-oose," he whines at her.

Stopping and turning to face her Doctor, Rose releases him and crosses her own arms; wearing a look that says he's dribbled on his shirt. "Doctor, I've waited for  _years_  to have the chance to make love to you, and I am done waiting. You're  _my_  husband, and we are about to consummate this marriage thing—right…now. Do you really have a problem with that, because a few minutes ago, I got a snog that definitely said you didn't."

"Nope," he says succinctly, and leaning forward, he picks Rose up in his arms despite the surprised squeak she lets out. Striding off towards the door to their room, Rose senses the well of desire that she has just tapped. She'd had no idea that he previously fantasised about her. The images that he's currently sending her though, say otherwise. Not to be outdone, Rose begins sending some of her own fantasies his direction. This, serves to have both of them panting slightly and definitely flushed when he finally reaches their door. He could swear the TARDIS made that further than usual.

Entering the room, the Doctor steps confidently to the bed, and unceremoniously throws Rose into the centre of it with an enormous grin, that starts her giggling. Able to finally see his eyes, she's even more turned on when she sees them dark with desire for her. Stepping to the side of the bed, he looks down at Rose a moment before speaking, concern in his body language that is at war with the naked desire in his expression.

"Wife, I most definitely do not have any problems making love to you, any time you so wish it. But Rose, I need to warn you that this will be extremely intense. The first time we join fully mind to mind during…while making love, we will share all of ourselves with each other. We will know everything the other knows—no secrets, no hiding places, and neither of us will ever truly be alone again. I need you to make sure this is what you want. The storm of information could be overwhelming, especially from my end; not dangerous to you, but…intense." He's looking at her with all the love and trust she can feel coming to her through their new Bond, but she can also feel his vulnerability. Though it would pain him deeply if she said no, no it would be, for however long.

Overwhelmed a moment by his trust in her, and his deep desire to do everything in his power to insure her comfort, Rose experiences a moment of unworthiness that she should have this amazing man as her husband. Taking his hand in hers, she looks up and stops him from replying to her feelings of doubt with a look.

"You daft man, I made my choice a long time ago. I said forever, and I meant it. I didn't mean with only part of me. I've loved you since the word 'run'. I don't have any secrets to keep, or want places to hide. I am yours, all of me," she says simply, trying to mirror all the love and trust she had seen in him.

With an inarticulate "HA!" of pure joy, the Doctor joins her on the bed, and he was right; the storm they created swept her up in its tidal forces, and she was very nearly overcome. But with an iron determination on her part, and an infinite well of love to draw upon, she was able to take the knowledge stream and give it its own place in her mindscape; only picking up vague impressions from the enormous load of memories. Hers may not have been as vast, but it was certainly filled with more than enough information to keep the Doctor's mind busy for a while. He was frankly amazed at the lengths she had gone to in saving him, and all the implication in what she, or rather they, may be capable of. He was entirely grateful for whatever good he had finally done that had earned him a place in Rose Tyler's heart…err hearts.

Once the initial joining of minds was complete, there were several days where the routine of their lives was punctuated by shagging…everywhere. They christened all the main rooms, absolutely by accident, no planning at all…of course. It was a complete surprise 'to the Doctor' when reaching down to pick up a dropped spatula for Rose as she was cooking, that he noticed she was wearing garters. Dinner was burned completely by accident…completely.

Rose had no idea how good TARDIS grease smelled until she handed him a spanner one day, and that was enough to set her off, and them, under the TARDIS tree at the base of the Console, mood lighting supplied by the lovely bulbs hanging around them. Darling did make it known after that, that they could keep their biological activities away from her main sensor systems, thank you very much.

They managed to stop for dinners out on a couple of safe and exotic planets, that got Time Lord christened as well. One unfortunate and badly timed coupling, involved running for their lives starkers, straight for the TARDIS; leaving all of their clothes behind. It wasn't until they were safely in the TARDIS, listening to the barrage of primitive grenades, that the laughing began. They could hardly control themselves at the ridiculousness of the situation. Who knew that the tree they'd accidentally ended up against was sacred to the God of Flatulent Fruits? Flatulent fruits!? Another round of giggles, ensues until the TARDIS reminds them that are still in the vicinity, and perhaps the Doctor would like to retrieve his clothing, pockets stuffed with all kinds of things the locals should definitely  **not**  have contact with. After retrieving the pile of hastily discarded clothing, they decided a shower would be marvellous, and resumed their interrupted activities there.

It took them a couple more weeks to get to the point where Rose felt they could be in public without wanting to shag all the time; let alone, the time needed to figure out the complexities of their new Bond. They had talked about the initial biological imperatives that went along with full Bonding, but she'd had no idea what that actually entailed. She wasn't complaining, not at all, but it would be really inconvenient to have their companions stumble across them in a hallway, the pool, the Library, hell, even the kitchen table. The Doctor finally saw the sense in this, when Rose pointedly suggested he think about what Donna's reaction would be. That sobered him right up, as did the notion of what Jack would think. Neither of them were interested in sharing—at…all.

Plus, Rose could tell that the Doctor needed some real adventuring. He was getting a little stir crazy, and some of the improvements he was suggesting to the TARDIS were being met with preemptive shocks in Her attempts to dissuade him, and he was frustrated with not getting anywhere yet with her proposed Harkness Harmonising Adapter.

Upon waking after the one night a week that they agreed to rest, Rose looks over to see the Doctor still sleeping. It is so rare that she's the first to awaken that she indulges herself and just watches him. His face is so much more relaxed than when she had first returned, and he has finally put back on some weight. The haunted look that had lingered in his eyes after the incident with John Hart, was also gone. He would still get a little weird about small spaces that weren't in the TARDIS, and he had only just started wearing ties again, after spending the first couple of weeks wearing jumpers with his suits. All in all she decided, married life suited them both perfectly.

"Yes, it does. Well, the 'married to Rose life' suits me perfectly," he says sleepily. Opening his eyes and smiling at the startled squeak Rose lets out as his sudden words surprise her, "Good morning, luv."

"Good morning, my darling man," she replies, kissing him soundly in forgiveness for surprising her. "So, I think we should retrieve Jack today, and get ready to pick Donna up, too. I miss them."

Picking her up with a giggle and rolling over so she's laying atop him, she listens with a smile to his hearts beating, and the lovely rumbling of his voice through her ear pressed to his belly.

"I miss them, too…oddly. I barely know this young Jack, but I remember how much fun we had before Satellite 5, and I miss that. Donna is special. I am actually excited to show her all the places she could never imagine, you know?"

He had been talking while absently rubbing Rose's back, but stopped at the 'you know?' Looking up at him and meeting his gaze, she smiles her understanding, "I know exactly what you mean. The excitement they have upon seeing the wonders of the Universe for the very first time, making it new for you again as well. You haven't taken your wife everywhere yet, you know. I am sure I could muster up some wonder for you. That is, if you have anything impressive to show me," she teases him.

"Oh, I'll show you impressive, Rose Tyler." Just as they are really starting to enjoy the kiss, the Cloister Bell tolls, and both of them leap from the bed, throwing clothes at each other to get dressed faster. Racing to the Console Room, the Doctor swings the screen around to see what the issue is. With an eye-roll and a groan he pushes the screen around to Rose on her side of the Console and begins to pilot them to the noted location.

"Uh-oh, it's Jack," Rose says, recognising the coordinates.

"Yup, it's Jack. I knew he wouldn't be able to stay out of trouble."


	26. Responsibilities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's spot of trouble turns out to be worse than expected.

**26 Responsibilities**

"How was I supposed to know?" Jack pants out as they run for their lives back to the TARDIS. "Who worships a penguin God?"

"Well, apparently these people! Run faster, boys. Their militia's gaining on us," Rose hollers back at the two men as they near the TARDIS. Reaching for her key, Rose has the door open just as even more irate citizens trans-mat directly to the glade containing their Ship.

The Doctor flies past Rose and directly to the controls, putting them in flight as quickly as possible.

"No, no, no! Harkness, did you have any tech with you that shouldn't be on a 38th Century planet? The TARDIS isn't letting us leave."

"Like what, Doc? I packed clothes, shoes, cosmetics, toiletries…," he replies as he ticks items off on his fingers. He can't imagine anything that would be a problem; this isn't his first… "Oh, hell! I had a sonic shaver."

"Shit! Okaaay, think, think, think! I'll see if I can lock onto your residual bio-signature and materialise around or near your stuff, let's hope the shaver is still there. I will not be pleased if people get hurt over your stupidity, Jack Harkness." The Doctor quickly turns towards Jack and rakes him with his sonic and a look that says this discussion is not finished.

Planting the sonic into a slot on the Console, it only takes a few more moments for the TARDIS to have a lock. By this point there is much angry banging on the doors from the mob outside calling for justice against 'he that committed blasphemy against the sacred Holiness, Ozmit'….the Penguin deity of Relitarium V.

Rose is torn between finding the situation hysterical (penguin gods, really!), and distressed at how angry the Doctor is at Jack. Through their Bond, she can taste his anger and disappointment, also an interesting dash of fear. Wondering what that's about, she sends him soothing thoughts of her own, trying to calm him down.

- _Doctor! He's sorry. He didn't do it on purpose. We'll get the sonic shaver back, and everything will be fine,-_ she thinks softly in his direction.

_-No Rose, it isn't fine. Even something as small as this sonic shaver could have enormous effects on this planet's development. It was stupid and irresponsible.-_

- _You wouldn't be treating_ ** _me_** _this way if it was my mistake,-_  she points out.

_-Rose, I could forgive you your ignorance, fix the situation, and move on. Jack was, and in a since still is, a Time Agent! He has had specialised training to prevent just these sorts of situations from happening. He was careless or just lazy.-_

Burying her irritation at the ignorance comment she tries again to make sense of his feelings.

- _Understood, but that doesn't explain why you're scared, and I think you're blowing this way out of proportion.-_  Rose is still confused at the vehemence of his response, though he does have a point.

"Blowing this out of proportion?!" he yells out loud, turning to Rose and Jack. "Later in this Century, a particularly unpleasant version of Cyberman starts up on this very planet. I never could figure out why. What if it's because of this, this little tiny mistake? I might be able to fix this. Then millions of people would survive; but Rose  **we**  may have caused this."

"Doc, I'm sorry. I just grabbed it on my way out. I never thought…," Jack is visibly upset. "I understand if you need to take me home. I can't be around you guys if what I do inadvertently gets millions killed."

Staring at Jack a moment, the Doctor's expression softens a touch. "No, Jack, I'm not going to get rid of you." Pushing his hands through his hair, he's just about to continue when the TARDIS indicates she has found a location to materialise. Pulling the levers and pressing the buttons to land, they come to a surprisingly gentle stop.

Stepping to the doors, the Doctor looks at Rose and Jack who are right behind him.

"No. Stay here. I am going to do this myself," he says, allowing no room for discussion.

"But…," Rose starts.

"Please, Rose. Just stay here. I'll be back shortly." With that he's out the door, which clicks shut behind him with finality.

"Well, so much for that vacation. I'm going to bed." Jack heads off toward his room with shoulders slumped forward and none of the previous bounce to his step.

Rose feels terrible about the entire situation. Frustrated, she flops into the jump seat; annoyed that she doesn't have an easy solution and being forced to stay behind. She can feel determination and a spark of hope in her Doctor as he's making his way towards Jack's belongings. He's still upset, but now she can tell that it is more with himself than at Jack. It's because too many times has something similar happened to him, when some small piece of tech fell from his pocket or was taken from him when captured. It is exactly the same feeling he has when thinking about Torchwood. Suddenly, his burst of temper makes complete sense to her.

- _My darling man, I love you. Please be careful,-_  Rose sends him. Then she gets up and heads to the Library. She wants to know more about these unrelated strains of Cybermen. How could they just pop up? They had almost completely destroyed her life, and had destroyed many others between her Earth and Pete's World. She was wondering what made humans want to propagate such misguided ideas.

* * *

- _My darling man, I love you. Please be careful.-_

The Doctor receives Rose's message with a small smile. Then he closes their link down some so she won't pick up too much from his surroundings. If she started to worry she would immediately leave the TARDIS and that would just distract him.

The TARDIS landed as close to Jack's things as She determined was safe; inside a facility that the Doctor assumes is scientific in nature. It has that ubiquitous look—all stark white walls, super minimalistic decor, and helpful stylised notations on walls and doors with titles like: Bio-rhythmic Display Forum and Nano-technologies. Finally locating the one he thinks may harbour Jack's futuristic/alien articles, Experimental and Alien Technologies. First, he enters the door next to the one he wants, finding exactly what he needs—lab coats and name tags.

Dressing the part should get him closer. It's not a good sign that anything of Jack's had ended up in this place. That means that someone has either already detected the higher tech or Jack had accidentally stumbled across the wrong person at the wrong time.

Wondering why the facility is so empty, the Doctor follows the sounds of murmuring voices to a room that is the viewing gallery for this wing of the building. There must be nearly a hundred lab-coated scientists filling the seats waiting for the main event to begin. Feeling a bit sick, he wonders how many aliens have been dissected to the perverse delight of these watching scientists. Hoping that that isn't on the agenda today, the Doctor politely finds a seat with a view of the forum below instead of immediately grabbing Jack's stuff and running.

Seated and surreptitiously checking his sonic, the Doctor is confused by the readings he's getting. It isn't showing Jack's tech anywhere near him, but off to the East more and several hundred meters away. About to follow-up on this new development, the Doctor is stopped from leaving his seat by the white curtain opening, and the contents of the exam forum open for display. What he sees there roots him to his seat in fascination, worry, and fear—they have a Dalek and a Cyberman laid out on especially designed tables.

* * *

Rose feels the mood change through their Bond. Reaching for the Doctor, she can sense that he is limiting the information she's getting. Pulling herself out of her research, she sets the book aside and concentrates on the Doctor.

- _What the hell are you doing?-_  She sends to him forcefully.

With a wince at the strength of her connection, the Doctor clamps down a little more firmly on the emotional relay portion of their link.

_-Oh no you don't! If you don't tell me what's going on, I will be out of this TARDIS faster than you can…-_

Interrupting her, - _Rose! Look for my memories of Villengard,/-_ the Doctor tells her, hoping that will make her understand.

Rose's eyes narrow at the interruption and the curtness of the reply, but she does as he asks. They now have a copy of the other's memories in their mind that they can each access, but it has to be done consciously. Rose is very thankful that all these memories do not live amongst her own. That would be terribly confusing.

Initially, she had received an entire river of impressions, but had promptly forgotten all of it. They weren't her memories, and she felt like it would be a violation of his trust to just go traipsing through them. But when he asks her specifically to explore a certain memory, she has no problem searching for it.

Turning inward and reaching for her Foyer, she arrives within the circular plaza at the centre. Intrigued, she realises that she hasn't been here since the Doctor taught her how to protect it. It was still hers, but now the vines that are a part of her shielded garden have grown up and around all the columns. They are blooming profusely, covered in gorgeous yellow flowers.

Turning full circle, she's amazed at the transformations that have occurred unconsciously. As she inspects her surroundings she sees a new wing added that must be the Doctor's memories. It's vines are blooming in blue, and his marble is a dark striated green compared to her silver veined white. Placing the word Villengard in her mind, she takes a step forward and finds herself at a door. Seeing the images carved on it, she starts laughing as she raises her hand to gain access to the memory. The circle with a line through it is over a fancy gun shaped somewhat like Jack's sonic blaster. Next to the 'no guns' symbol is an equals sign and then a banana. Rose is still laughing when she abruptly finds herself in a memory that has nothing in it to laugh about.

* * *

Listening to the attending researcher blither on about the metal man and the mechanised cephalopod's armour is enough to drive the Doctor barmy. The man is a complete idiot and has no idea what he's got in his custody, and just rattles on about where they were found. The Doctor can easily see that both 'specimens' are dead, thankfully. The amount of damage done to both of them would have rendered them inoperable. Wondering how the Dalek and Cyberman both ended up here , the Doctor is not surprised when another researcher enters at an introduction and to polite clapping from the other scientists.

This man is the brains of the operation. The Doctor can see that Dr. Coriolanus knows exactly the potential at his fingertips. He is the real danger here. Becoming more and more agitated at the man's descriptions of what he found inside the specimens, and what it would mean for his world and their bid to control their local region of space, the Doctor finally has to leave. Something must be done, and he's going to do it. With all the scientists and this madman busy, maybe he can find a computer terminal, insert a virus, or blow the place up—something that would keep this upcoming massacre from occurring.

Feigning a desperate need for the loo, the Doctor makes a hasty exit in the right direction before he turns back to the main research labs. On his way, he feels Rose come back to him. The strain in her mental voice from experiencing his memory is evident.

 _-Is_ ** _this_** _that bad, Doctor?-_ She asks.

- _This has the potential to be that bad or maybe worse. They have Cyberman and Dalek corpses with their armour more or less intact.-_ His dread over the possibilities is clear through their link.

- _So that virulent strain of Cybermen maybe wasn't Jack's fault after all?-_  Rose asks tentatively.

- _Probably not. We're lucky this isn't a fixed point. I may be able to avert some or all of this, but I might need to blow up the building. The scientist in charge, Dr. Coriolanus, is a genius, and I was in the room, so I know. He's made some brilliant discoveries from his specimens, and his designs are specifically engineered to kill as many as possible in his goal to take over this sector of space. He's just started to explore the biomechanical possibilities. I have to stop him, Rose.-_ The Doctor is emphatic, but Rose can sense his caution as well. He knows the danger he's in. Not ending up on that dissection table is a new goal of his.

- _Alright, what do you need me to do? I want to help. We can't let him develop anything like what they had at Villengard. That place was horrible. All those people used in experiments and as targets…guhhhh; makes me sick.-_ Rose feels ill over what she had just witnessed. She was very happy indeed that it was now a banana grove. It seemed like a strange memorial to place at the site of so much destructive potential; but it was a gentle one, and the people who had died there deserved that.

- _I_ ** _need_** _you to stay safe, Rose.-_  The Doctor aims her way as he's opening doors, looking for a computer.

- _Doctor, I was a Torchwood operative. I have handled many desperate situations and saved lives, and that was while I was human! Do_ ** _not_** _try and keep me locked away in your pretty box. I am your partner, not your treasure to horde away.-_  Rose was already headed to the wardrobe. She knew Darling would have some tactical gear set out for her. Rose was going to help, and make sure this didn't kill her or her stubborn man.

- _Rose! I…fine. Refine the location of Jack's things with the TARDIS and retrieve them. They are no where near the research forum with the specimens in it, and that seems to be where the majority of the population in this building is located. You should have plenty of time. They wear the long white lab coats, grab one of those, too. And Rose, please be careful.-_  He can tell she's already getting dressed to head out of the TARDIS.

- _On it!-_  she replies briskly, very glad that he had relented. Rose much preferred a task to waiting.

It frustrates him that she won't just listen. What will he do if something happens to her? But she's right; she knows what she's doing.

Raised in an ancient telepathic society, the Doctor's mind naturally categorised Rose's memories for him, and he has glanced through at least a portion of all her memories. He is amazed at her resilience and her tenacity. Though she appears to be at times, she isn't a hot head, and had a track record with her team at Torchwood of being very methodical. He didn't like how often she'd resorted to guns in dire situations, but even he had to admit that with the resources available, he isn't sure what other options there would have been. He might as well acquiesce now and give her a task. He didn't fancy being on the receiving end of the Tyler slap if he continued to deny her. And it is important to her—to be his partner.

He has spent his entire life making decisions for others. It is entirely new for him to make decisions  _with_  another. It will take some getting used to, but he has to acknowledge that Rose feels the same way about him being lost or hurt. Her feelings are just as valid as his.

Sighing to himself, the Doctor continues searching for a computer. Where do they keep the damn things around here? He would expect every desk would…  _/Moron,/_  he thinks to himself. / _You're in the 38th Century. The desks are the computers./_

Stepping into the next office, he slides in behind the desk and glides his palms over the surface. Instantly an interface activates and hovers over the desktop. Thankfully the interface isn't isometric, or hacking it would be a bit more difficult. Taking out his sonic, he begins carefully accessing files and data on the project— **Revelations**.  _/Humans, so dramatic,/_  the Doctor thinks as he delves deeper and deeper inside the information, looking for a way to stop them and determining how far the cancer goes.

* * *

"Jack! Get up! We're going to help," Rose yells through his door. She knocks a couple of times, but gets no answer. Checking the door, it opens easily under her hands. Stepping cautiously into the room, she's amazed to see what the TARDIS had done for Jack. It looks like a lodge in the woods. All wood and stone for the walls with a gorgeous and huge fireplace, all decorated in colours of green and brown. The tree trunks at the corners of the room appear to be living, and there is a light dusting of leaves against the palely lit ceiling above her.

Hearing a quiet sniff, Rose comes back to her purpose and looks around the room for Jack. "Jack? We have a mission. I was hoping you'd want to come with me," she says as she goes deeper into the room, looking for her hurting friend.

Finally finding him, curled up in a chair in front of the fireplace, Rose goes to him.

"Jack, it isn't your fault," she begins but Jack cuts her off.

"Yes, it is. You heard the Doctor. My mistake kills those people, and they're going to be cyberised, ugh!" Still upset, she watches as he takes a swallow of amber liquid from a glass she didn't notice before.

"No, you idiot, listen to me. It isn't your fault. The Doctor just discovered they have a dead Dalek and Cyberman that they've been reverse-engineering. Your little sonic shaver is no where near them. And you had better not be drunk, because we're going to retrieve your stuff while the Doctor finds a way to stop this. Then we're going to go help." Removing the glass from his unresisting hand, Rose takes it to the sink of his en suite and pours it out. Returning to the main room, she sees he's still in the same position, hand slightly raised, but no longer holding a cup and blinking owlishly up at her.

"It wasn't me? We have a mission? Rosie! That's the best news I've had all day. The way things change around here; it's amazing you don't go mad!" And with a whoop, he leaps up from the chair where Rose now realises he was sitting completely naked, wrapped in a blanket. As he rushes around the room getting dressed, Rose moves toward the doorway to avoid seeing more of Jack Harkness than she already has.

"Who says we aren't mad, Jack?" Rose quips. "I'll see you in the Console Room when you're ready."

Jack is only a few more minutes, which gives Rose enough time to find another lab coat and a set of brainy specs for Jack. Covering their kits with the lab coats, they head out in the direction given them by the TARDIS, who also helpfully provides them a rough map. Putting on the brainy-specs, Jack hunches his shoulders and shrinks into his coat a bit, ruffling his hair is the last touch to making him look positively nerdy. Rose presses her lips together hard to keep from laughing as they head off in the indicated direction.

* * *

"Ah-ha! Gotchya!" The Doctor exclaims quietly as he finds access to a secondary mainframe off site that backs up everything for this facility. Tinkering with his sonic a moment, he removes the end from it and plugs it into the terminal. The screen shows a status bar as the system unsuspectingly downloads a terminal and very thorough virus from the Doctor's sonic. He grins at his cleverness, just as the door next to him opens and Dr. Coriolanus steps in.

"Ahhh….I see we have an intruder," he says quietly, closing and locking the door behind him. Turning slowly, to look at the Doctor as if he is examining a new specimen, Dr. Coriolanus begins speaking again, "I was told someone had left the forum. Attendance is mandatory, and you were gone too long to have only needed a restroom break. Security cameras showed me exactly where you were, and isolating this office was really quite simple. Too bad your destructive efforts will go for naught. I locked that computer into a loop. Nothing you put in will get out."

Dr. Coriolanus's face transforms into a rictus, the Doctor assumes qualifies as a smile for this man. The Doctor needs to keep him talking. There's only another minute or so for the download to complete, and he'll be in business.

He'd noticed the security measures that were attempted, but he had easily turned them back onto the sending unit, and it was actually  _that_  computer that was looped. That was okay though; it was still included in the systems to be devoured.

"Oh, hello. Nice place you have here. Such interesting…research. Do you have any idea how those incredible creatures arrived here? I thought we were so safe. My lab partner just the other day was saying…"

"Stop your prattling. I know you aren't one of my researchers. They're all chipped. You're something else entirely, and if the scans can be believed, alien as well," he says as he takes a step toward the Doctor. "I am so interested in aliens. Their technology, their outsides, their insides—I find them…fascinating. So, what should I call you? A name would be nice since this is going to be your new home for a very long time. I'm Revelations Project Director Dr. Coriolanus, by the way," he almost purrs. His confident and calculated assurance disturbs the Doctor. It reminds him too much of the Rani. She too, was perfectly able to sound rational and even sometimes sympathetic to the creatures she was dissecting alive. He has a very hard time suppressing the shudder at the memories of what she'd been capable of during the Time War.

"I'm the Doctor, and now that the pretending is finished, I'll give you your one chance," he states flatly. His confident smirk and eyebrow are fully in play. Which he can see annoys the Director…even better.

"Doctor? That isn't a name, it's an earned title. And, one chance for what, dear boy? Surrendering quietly would be your best option. I would hate to…damage you." The quiet menace in his tone sounds just like the one John Hart had used on the Doctor, before he became too delirious. As that hated memory creeps up on him, it seems he can do nothing to hold it at bay.

_/"That's good; an obedient response. I like it, except…you forgot the Master," he says almost intimately. At the first licks of fire in his mind, the Doctor's knees give out and he slams to the floor panting. Not fully in control of himself, part of his mind sickeningly hears himself begging for it to stop, "Gah….sorry…sorry…sorry…please...no not again, no never, of course Master, whatever you want, no never again…please."/_

Feeling the edges of his vision tunnel in and panic rise in his mind during the flashback, the Doctor is mercifully distracted by both the ding of the download being complete, and Rose's mental acknowledgement that Jack's things have been retrieved. Also that Jack accidentally dropped the shaver into the ocean at one point, and all the electronic and sonic parts are corroded. They were headed to the TARDIS, full speed.

Cheeky grin back in full force with this bit of extremely good news, the Doctor sloppily pushes all the other feelings down and is more or less feeling in control of the situation again…sort of. Turning his thousand watt smile onto his supposed adversary, he decides to taunt him a bit, "The self destruct should start in three…Two…One…"

**ALERT! ALERT! FACILITY ONE HAS BEEN COMPROMISED! SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATED! EFFECT EVACUATION IMMEDIATELY! TIME REMAINING 15 MINUTES AND 49 SECONDS! ALERT! ALERT! …**

"Actually, my dear Dr. Coriolanus, my name is a promise-one you have obviously failed to keep," the Doctor says condescendingly, scorn evident in his tone. "This is your only chance to give up and stop this madness. Your specimens are known as extremely violent and hated enemies across the entire Universe. Nothing good will come of your need for dominance. Let your people develop naturally. Knowledge is beautiful, it doesn't have to be destructive." As he is giving his ultimatum to Dr. Coriolanus, the Doctor is slowly edging his way around the desk, hoping to get closer to the door when the scientist had rushed to the computer and madly began typing, trying to avert the self-destruct sequence the Doctor had begun.

"Stop!" Dr. Coriolanus shouts at the Doctor. Looking back toward the scientist, the Doctor sees a blaster in his hand pointed none too steadily at his head. "You cannot just waltz in here and destroy my life's work! I have been working for the glory of my people and Ozmit-the Holy Penguin my entire life. Our ascendence to the stars is assured by my research. One chance to stop? Save your pleas for your guards as I strap you…"

Moving faster than Coriolanus would have thought possible, the Doctor has the gun in his hand now and crushes it; causing sparks and blue goo to run from it. Throwing it aside, he grabs the scientist by the shoulder. The Doctor shakes him a bit, his eyes black and filled with rage. The Doctor may not be as recovered from his ordeal as he likes to pretend he is. Too much of this rage is left over from his treatment by John Hart-who this man has made the mistake of reminding him of.

"Do you want to know what your 'ascendency' means? Do you want to see it? I can show you. I'm not just an alien, I'm a  **Time Lord**. Do you know what that means?" At a nervous head shake from the wide-eyed Dr. Coriolanus, the Doctor continues, "No? It means that I can  **see**  Time, I can  **feel**  Time, and I  **protect**  Time...from madmen like you."

With no thought for consequences, he slaps his goo covered hand against the side of the scientist's skull, pressing his fingers to his temples. The Doctor opens wide the door to his memories of the Cybermen's destructive actions. Their march across whole systems and galaxies before finally being stopped. Of the slaughtered multitudes that were cyberised in their wake. Then the Doctor shows him just a little of the terrible power the Daleks have and their reign of terror across whole swathes of time and space, leaving broken planets and extinction in their wake.

Dr. Coriolanus is struggling and crying out, trying to get away from the onslaught in his mind. The fire, the pain, the screams! It was one thing to inflict them on others, but to feel it oneself was a whole other matter.

Rose bursts through the door just as the scientist's struggles begin to weaken. His body unable to maintain consciousness against the mental barrage it is currently fighting against.

"Doctor!" Getting no response, Rose reaches out and touches him.

- ** _DOCTOR!-_** she screams into his mind. Because they are touching, it blasts everything else away. Releasing Dr. Coriolanus, who slumps to the ground unconscious, the Doctor blinks around at his surroundings as he stumbles back, seeming unsure of where he is.

"Rose? What happened? I … Oh," is all he says, gaze alighting on Dr. Coriolanus slumped on the floor.

"He was going to kill so many, Rose. He didn't understand. He wanted to keep me and experiment on me. He…" Not able or wanting to continue, he leans against her, burying his face in her hair. Rose folds him into her embrace murmuring to him, that he's safe. He nods but clings to her like he's hanging on for dear life.

Rose can feel that he'd been on the verge of having a panic attack for a while. When he threatened the scientist, he had lost all control over their link, so focused was he on the resurgence of all the feelings John Hart had left him with. Rose had felt the irrational terror and rage overwhelm the Doctor's mind through the restored link, and she'd left the TARDIS at a full out run, looking for the Doctor.

She had mistakenly thought he was past the trauma, he'd been so normal once he'd recovered physically. Well, as normal for the Doctor goes, but he had repressed those feelings instead. Now, she could see that Dr. Coriolanus had triggered all the memories from that time and was unprepared for the tidal wave of fury he had received. She almost felt bad for the doomed researcher.

How does one go about treating PTSD in a Time Lord? Probably just with time, and getting him to talk about it with her. They each had the memories, but hadn't explored the emotional trauma of their time apart. They hadn't made the time.

Jack bursts through the door just a few minutes behind Rose, and assesses the situation rapidly. Having dealt with his own share of PTSD at times, Jack recognises the signs in the Doctor's glazed, shocky look as he and Rose turn to face him. Slapping a cheerful expression of 'Wow! Here my friends are. Let's go!' on his face, Jack herds them all toward the door.

"Alright kids, let's blow this joint. All personnel has been evacuated, including the nearby town. Apparently there was an explosion in the hills to the South of here, so all the emergency vehicles were headed that way when this started. We only have 5 minutes to get back to the TARDIS. You go ahead, I'll get the brainac here." Stooping to pick up Dr Coriolanus, Jack is surprised to hear Rose's voice tell him not to.

"No, Jack. Leave him." Without an explanation, Rose turns away and supporting the Doctor through the door, heads down the hallway toward the TARDIS.

Jack takes one more look back at Dr. Coriolanus. "I don't know what exactly you did mister, but you pissed off the wrong people," he says to the comatose man at his feet The empty look in the Doctor's eyes hurt Jack's heart, and to think this man had caused that. Jack had thought the Doctor past the worst of his experience, but whatever had transpired here had brought it all back full force, and he had acted out.

Knowing his new friends well enough, Jack stoops and throws the scientist over his shoulder. Running as fast as he can, he comes to the trans-mat with 3 minutes to spare. It's still set for the coordinates that the remaining staff had been relocated to. Setting Dr. Coriolanus on the transport pad, Jack scribbles a quick note and stuffs it in the scientist's pocket. Slapping the button for transportation, Jack is off like a shot. Reaching the TARDIS with 35 seconds to spare, he's met by a glare from Rose, but no yelling. Looking around as she sends them into Vortex, Jack spots the Doctor sitting in the jumpseat staring off into space. With a sigh, Jack walks up the ramp and starts seeing what he can do to help.

* * *

On the other side of Relitarium V a group of scientists and other building staff are conversing in groups, waiting to be picked up and flown somewhere safe. They're all glad to have been evacuated, but didn't understand why the coordinates sent them here.

Suddenly the trans-mat hums again and in a flash of blue, Dr. Coriolanus is laying on the transport pad.

"Dr. Coriolanus! We were so worried. Help me! He's unconscious."

"How did he get here unconscious?"

"What are the burns on his face?"

"Dr. Coriolanus?"

"Hmmm…too bad."

Surrounded by mostly concerned though wary colleagues, the director finally starts to awaken. As he does, though, his eyes go wide and he begins screaming incoherently as he tries to get all of the helping hands away from him. Restraining him, they finally get him sedated to the stunned silence of the crowd. The madness in his eyes was plain for all to see. What no one knew was whether or not the mad genius would recover. Not all of the scientists were in a hurry for that to happen.

One of them found the note that had been dislodged from his pocket. Straightening, she reads it aloud:

"-Everyone deserves a choice and a chance to live.- What does that mean?"

One of the more rational scientists knows exactly what it means, and he intends to follow through with the second chance they've been given.

With Dr. Coriolanus incapacitated, they never learned why they were transported so far from civilisation onto a lonely hillside on the Western continent. No one would ever learn of the second hidden research base that had been Dr. Coriolanus's private playground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Second to last chapter, my friends. The ride is almost complete. I hope you've enjoyed it. :-)


	27. Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to grab Donna.

**27 Reunions**

It takes them another month to work all the kinks out of the Doctor's behaviour. It only took that long because he was a right prat for the first two weeks; with his stoutly refusing the potential need for any help, and completely against having any sort of conversation about what had happened. Nope, he was just fine, thank you very much. So how about that Time Vortex?

The turning point was another night shattered by nightmares, but this time Rose could't wake him from them. Having thrown himself from the bed, he was violently trying to crawl through the wall. It took both Rose and Jack to sedate him and move him to the Infirmary where they bandaged his hands. The TARDIS told them the Zero room would be a better choice as the lack of extra stimuli would help.

Waiting with the Doctor in the Zero room, Rose is worried about how to help him. She stands next to his hovering body and strokes his hands or his head, trying her best to cocoon him in her love and safety.

At some point she begins singing to him, mostly without words, just expressing how she feels through the music. Lost in her song, it takes her a moment to realise that she's slipped into the Doctor's sleeping mind. It is the singing of birds, a counterpoint to her own song, that causes her to open her eyes.

 _/This must be a dream,_ /Rose thinks as she looks around.

Finding herself near a path leading into a forest of redwood trees with silver leaves, Rose recognises where she is from the Gallifrey room on the TARDIS, though this is slightly different. Just as she's about to take the path leading to the glen and the Fountain, she hears several children screaming in play nearby. That is, until the pitch suddenly changes and the sounds of distress waft toward her. Turning away from the path, Rose sees four children huddled around two more that are on the ground fighting. The other four are yelling at them, some encouraging them and some shouting to stop.

This is different from her past experience with the Doctor's memories where she sees everything through his eyes. This time she's free to move around in the memory/dream, and observe it from the outside.

Distracted from her purpose by the ruckus, Rose heads toward the altercation. Reaching the argument, she can see it's between two boys of about 7 or 8. None of the participants acknowledges her arrival, so Rose assumes she's only observing.

The first boy, the one on the bottom, is small for his age and blond with expressive blue eyes. The larger boy, who is obviously winning, is dark haired and has sharp grey eyes. The rest of the group is made up of two more boys, and a couple of girls. They are all wearing loose tunics and trousers in various earth tones. Through all the shouting Rose can hear the dark-headed boy berating his opponent for cheating.

"You cheated, Theta, and I'm going to make you regret it!" growls the dark boy.

"It's tag, Koschei. How do you cheat? Get off me!" yells the blonde.

In a brilliantly sinuous move, the blonde, Theta, is suddenly standing a step away from Koschei who looks around bewildered, his hands and face full of red grass. Face purpling in rage, he's just about to launch himself at Theta again when an adult shows up and grabs the two boys by their tunics. Shaking them lightly, he is obviously annoyed, and all the other children have scattered to the sides finding various bits of earth and tree utterly fascinating.

"What is the meaning of this? You are all supposed to be at your studies. Initiation is only two weeks away and here you are behaving like animals. People do as they are told, animals play in the dirt. And  _you_ , Koschei…you are here only on  _my_  sufferance as a favour to the head of your house. Do  **not**  make me regret it." He looks around and pins the other children with a scalding look. All of them pipe up with a, "Yes, Borusa." Everyone, except that is for Theta, who stays resolutely silent.

Borusa gives Theta another little shake and is about to lay into him further, when there's a call from behind them. Everyone present turns to look back toward the woods. There, at the head of the path, is a tall stately figure in blue and grey robes. She raises a hand, and with a quiet sigh, Borusa leads the children toward her.

Following the group, Rose recognises the Doctor's mother as she gets closer. Reaching the Lady Professor, Borusa immediately starts apologising for the children's behaviour, but she stops him with a raised hand. Taking a step forward, she reaches for Theta. He steps forward awkwardly looking only at the ground, obviously embarrassed for being caught out. "Mother, I…I'm sorry…I..," he starts to explain himself, but his mother stops him with a touch on the shoulder.

 _/The little blonde boy will be the Doctor!/_ Rose thinks in surprise. She has seen all of his incarnations, but it hadn't occurred to her what he may have looked like as a child. It made her wonder if she and the Doctor would ever have children of their own. Rose had never really wanted them, but helping out with Tony, had softened those edges. Although raising the Doctor's children, she expected would drive her spare…though that could be part of the fun. With a smile, Rose decides to contemplate that topic more fully in the future and focuses again on the Lady Professor as she starts speaking.

"Look at me," his mother says. Looking up at her with an expression of studied apology, she smiles down at him. Taking his shoulder and squeezing it, she says, "You have so little time left before you leave for the Academy. Do not waste it in fighting. Koschei, come here." Koschei steps forward awkwardly as well, but with a sullen expression.

"Koschei," she continues kindly, "be calm, enjoy this time." Looking past Borusa and at the rest of the children she says, "Soon you will all be much to be busy and you will look back at these moments as lost. There has been enough studying for today. Go be children, and enjoy yourselves."

The other four children scream in delight and go running across the field toward a stream and a small stand of trees. The second sun is setting, but the larger primary will still be in the sky for several more hours. Plenty of time to create all kinds of mischief and fun.

Looking back down at Koschei seriously, the Lady Professor continues, "You two are the smartest and the best. Remember you are friends. Do not let your competitiveness ruin this time for you." Releasing Koschei from her gaze, she sends him off after the others with a nod. He glances at Theta once, nods formally to both adults, and then sprints off towards the other children.

Keeping her grip on Theta's shoulder, she looks to Borusa with an understanding smile. "Thank you, Borusa. Let them play. A few scrapes and bruises never hurt anyone for long."

"Yes, Madame," he says with a bow and turns walking back the way he came, pausing to look out toward the children once before he continues around more trees and out of sight.

Looking down at Theta, his mother smiles again. They gaze at each other intently for a few moments, seemingly speaking telepathically. He nods at her with a look of determination, and she pulls him into an embrace. Hugging him tightly to her for a moment, she releases him with a swat to his head, "Go play with your friends. I love you," she finishes. He was gone like a shot at the word 'play'. Sighing, the smile fading, she turns to look directly at Rose, the smile replaced by a look of profound sadness.

Rose is startled. No one had paid the slightest attention to her. She had assumed she was invisible as far as the participants of the memory or dream were concerned. Having the Lady Professor abruptly meet her eyes and with such an expression catches Rose completely off guard.

Giving Rose a small smile, she turns and strides off toward the woods and down the path to her Fountain. Rose takes a moment to look around, and then starts off after the Doctor's mother who seems to have vanished. Rose trots toward the trees, hoping to catch up.

Running only a few paces, she finds herself directly on the stone patio that has the improbable Fountain in it. This time, as the second sun is setting, shafts of light pour into the small glen, illuminating the Fountain which looks to be carved of diamonds and slicked with liquid silver in the slanting light. Rose would be transfixed by this sight alone if not for what she can see on the patio near the Fountain.

Sitting on one of the stone benches near the Fountain is the Doctor's mother, across her lap lays Rose's pinstriped Doctor curled tightly into a fetal position. Rose can see he's shivering, and she has the odd impression that he is not always exactly there, as if he's in two places at once. His Mother is lightly stroking his forehead and singing to him in Gallifreyan. Rose can barely hear it, but it sounds like a lullaby.

Taking a step forward, his Mother looks up at Rose. In the same soothing tone, she tells her, "You have come just in time. Your Bondmate is near breaking." Rose had been staring at the Doctor, but at the words her eyes snap to those of his mother. Taking the remaining steps, Rose drops to her knees beside them.

"I don't know what to do. I was hoping he would get better. I keep trying to get him to talk to me, but he refuses to work through this. He's resting in the Zero Room of his TARDIS, but I'm afraid," Rose says with frustrated tears forming. There must be something, she can do. Raising her hand, Rose lays it gently against the Doctor's face. At her touch both she and the Doctor gasp as a sensation like a bolt of electricity shoots through them; reminding Rose of their binding. The Doctor doesn't stir, but he does seem more solid. Rose is about to remove her hand when his mother stops her.

"No, Rose. Do not let go. You do not have to know what to do, child. Do what feels right," she says slowly getting up from her position and encouraging Rose to take her place.

When Rose is seated on the bench with the Doctor's head in her lap and her palm still against his cheek, he relaxes a little into her. She smiles down at him, trying again to push all the love she can through their Bond. Feeling along the link to the Doctor, she finds a barrier. She isn't sure what it is. It doesn't feel like his shields, but it's keeping her from reaching him fully. Without really thinking about what she's doing, she throws herself at the barrier, pushing with all her mental might. It seems to thin and grow brittle, and then abruptly it shatters.

On the other side of the barrier, Rose finds herself above a raging sea of coloured light—strands leading in every direction with bright pulses speeding along them to areas that are alive with activity. Rose is transfixed by the beauty and busyness of the scene beneath her. Trying to follow one pulse or another is impossible—they are much too fast. She maps the landscape beneath her, tracing its light and shadow, valleys and peaks with her eyes. Abruptly, she understands what she's seeing—the Doctor's actual brain activity.

Discovering this suddenly makes the entire scene make sense. Studying it more closely, Rose begins to notice a fine tracery of black or grey that looks to be obstructing some of the natural flow from one structure to the next along the neurons, or whatever they're called in a Time Lord brain. Most of the brightly lit pathways have found ways around the blockages, but one area in particular is so wrapped in these dampening strands that it's nearly cut off. The activity within the structure seems rapid, but very few impulses get in or out. The ones that do, have had to come from completely different routes, and are not as bright when they finally arrive.

Reaching toward one of the grey vines, Rose sees she's made up of golden energy within his brain. Having an idea from this realisation, Rose begins to sing gently of growth and renewal. She sees the vines as physical damage done to his mind by the traumas he's been through. The most recent are still grey and not as firmly attached, but there are a great many thick black cords that have been there for ages. Cutting through them like a scythe through wheat, Rose begins healing the Doctor's mind of the damage caused by his many encounters that were less than pleasant.

The incident with John Hart and the collapsed timeline must have been the final straw against what his mind could tolerate; and in a sense, it was in a state of constant near overload. Focusing her attention on the portion of his mind that is most tightly wrapped in the disagreeable tendrils, Rose begins cutting them away, absorbing the negative within herself where it is converted back into her own golden energy. She is at this for some time, when she finally pulls back a bit to see the streams of pulses racing around much more expediently across the entire mindscape. Looking to herself, Rose sees she's now not as bright, and feels extraordinarily tired.

Sensing a stirring through her Bond, Rose allows herself to be pulled back out of the Doctor's mind where she finds herself in the reversed position from the garden. She's now back in the Zero Room with her head cradled in the Doctor's lap. He's crooning to her and softly running his hands through her hair.

Seeing she's finally awoken, "Hello," he whispers.

"Hello," she replies in turn, raising a hand to his cheek and smiling.

"We really need to stop meeting this way, Rose Tyler. I'm starting to feel inadequate to your magnificence," he teases her lightly.

"Oh, I'm pretty impressive. I'm sure you'll find a way to make it up to me, though," she says with her tongue between her teeth.

"Woman, that tongue!" Bending forward, he captures her mouth in a searing kiss that she thinks is perfectly adequate, and she says so.

Earning herself another kiss, they enjoy the exploration of tongue, lips and breath, until an explosive yawn from Rose, ruins the moment to much giggling on both their parts.

"Rose Tyler, I should be offended," the Doctor teases.

"Oi! After all the work I just did, I think you'd be tired, too. How do you feel by the way?" she asks. She really wants to know how what she did in his brain is affecting him out here.

"Actually? I feel great. I don't know what you did, but my mind feels clearer than it has in…well in ages. Care to explain?" he asks.

"Absolutely, but I think I need to get out of here, eat, shower, and sleep first…in that order," she says, ending with another jaw cracking yawn.

"Well, I am positively fizzing, almost as energetic as right after a regeneration. No sleeping for me, but I can think of several other things that would be deeeee-lightful right now!" he states hopefully.

"Nope, but maybe you could creatively wake me up in say, three or four hours," Rose replies getting up off the floor, and kissing away his burgeoning pout.

Leaving the Zero Room hand in hand, they find Jack in the kitchen cooking dinner.

"Hey guys and dolls, the TARDIS suggested strongly that I needed to make food, so I hope you like stir-fry, cause that's what we have; time for a grocery run." Jack says this while flipping vegetables expertly in the large wok. The rice is already finished, and the smell is divine.

"How do you mean 'strongly', Jack?" Rose asks curiously, stifling another yawn. She's just seated herself, chin in palm when the Doctor joins her, sliding his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side. Kissing the top of her head fondly, he's the one who actually replies.

"Usually She'll drop something on you when you need to get a move on or do what She wants."

"Yeah, it was this spatula!" Holding the offending item up for them to see, both the Doctor and Rose blush bright red and start giggling.

"What?" Jack asks confused. Finishing the stir-fry, he turns to look at them leaning against the counter.

"Really, what is so funny, and why are you both blush…" Looking back to his hand holding the spatula, an incredulous look suddenly breaks across his face. "No! Really? This spatula? It's my favourite one," he whines. When he looks up again, they snort and splutter and start laughing again at the look on his face and his confusion. "Really, I can't believe you two. I knew the TARDIS smelled funny when I got back. What did you do, christen every room?"

The Doctor shakes his head while Rose nods, both attempting to look innocent and failing. Looking at each other again sends them into yet another fit of giggles, both clutching their sides and tears pouring down their faces. At this point, Jack can't help but join in. The whole situation is so ridiculous. They obviously needed it though. All parties involved feel much better for the release.

Darling sometimes finds Her companions thoroughly amusing, and this is one of those moments. Her Thief's connection to her is much stronger though he hasn't noticed it yet. The cleaning that her Wolf has done cleared away the sense of sluggishness she has felt in their communications for ages. Certainly being able to communicate with him more directly since their Bonding is helpful, but She is Bound to Her Thief as well.

It is that connection that has suffered so long under the weight of the unavoidable damage. Damage to the TARDIS Herself, more than one regeneration that didn't take place within Her, and several times when he was injured within Her. His Time Lord brain could heal much, but those misguided connections from his brain attempting its own repairs were a problem, and the damage transferred between regenerations. Very few Time Lords ever experienced as much as Her Thief had, so Rassilon had never thought to remedy that little bit of junk in his mucking about with their genetics. The symbiotic relationship between Time Lord and TARDIS meant that his damage affected Her to some degree as well, and not having a clear connection wore on both of them.

Connections renewed, and happiness and laughter filling Her spaces, Darling decides it is time to retrieve the Noble one. She'll be good for her companions, and will be extremely important soon.

* * *

"Right, so, is everything ready? Jack did you clean up in the Library? There were sex-help books all over when I was in there last, and that might be considered rude. Doctor! Did you clean up your tools? I tripped over another spanner this morning, and I might brain you with it the next time. Jack…" Rose continues in a nervous litany, listing off the tasks, not even taking time to listen to the answers. As she finally winds down, she looks up from her list to see both men seated on the jumpseat, arms crossed, and giving her 'the look'.

"Oh my God! I've turned into my mother," she states with exasperation, throwing herself into a cross legged heap leaning against the Console facing Jack and the Doctor.

"Weeeellll, I don't know that I would go that far, but you have been on a bit of a tirade since we decided we were picking up Donna today. Why are you so nervous? You like Donna. She's been in the TARDIS before. I haven't redecorated. It's all the same. What's wrong, Rose?" the Doctor asks, more amused than anything at her behaviour.

Since Rose's mucking about in his head, he's been much more pleasant and (gasp) less moody.

Inwardly, Rose grins to herself at the thought. Her pinstriped Doctor had nothing on her leather coat wearing Doctor when it came to moody, but since his rescue and then the episode on Relitarium V, moody was the nice way to say he'd been a complete arse.

"Yeah, Rosie, what's up? The place is spic-n-span, not a drop of dust anywhere, not that I've ever seen any that you didn't make yourself, but I did pick up the books, and they're for research by the way. I'm going to write my own, and it will be  **much**  better than any of those boring old tomes. The kitchen is tip-top, and I even made sure the wardrobe was colour-coordinated. The TARDIS helped with the last part, it was awesome!" Jack's enthusiasm is wonderful. Although the look the Doctor is giving him about coordinating his wardrobe does send Rose into a bout of hysterics.

"I know it's stupid," she says, recovering her breath. "It's just that we haven't had another girl in the TARDIS before, well at least since I've been around, and I want everything to be perfect. I guess I got a little out of hand, I'm sorry. You've both been wonderful," Rose finishes with a smile.

Picking herself up off the floor, Rose goes to the jumpseat and gives both her men hugs. Then she gives her husband a kiss that even makes Jack flush, so he tactfully gets up off the jumpseat and moves to the other side of the Console.

"I still can't believe you guys didn't invite me to the wedding! I know, I know, you said it wasn't that kind of wedding, but still…," he says with a pout. Never one to stay down long, Jack's expression shifts from pout to delight, "You know, I have this cool place we should go dancing sometime. Great music, gorgeous people, fantastic food, and more fun than one boy could ever explore on his own," he finishes wistfully.

"Oh, and what is this 'haven of delight' called?" asks Rose, finally releasing the Doctor with a look that promises their weekly sleeping night might start late, or early as the case may be.

"Avalon's,"Jack says dreamily, still gazing off into space.

"Avalon's?!" the Doctor gasps, incredulous. "You want to take Rose and Donna to the Square? Are you out of your mind, they might…well.. they…it's a sexual den of seedy miscreants!" the Doctor splutters.

Both Jack and Rose gaze at him a moment with his hands buried in his pockets and wearing a decidedly uncomfortable expression, and then mutually burst into laughter.

"Doc! Who knew you were such a prude, and after that scorching kiss you just had right there in front of me, without inviting me to join in, I might add. Not to mention whatever it is you two did in every room of this frankly enormous Time Ship. I  _am_  surprised!" Jack states, hands on hips.

"I am  _not_  a prude," the Doctor pouts. "I just don't see the point of a place like, well, like that."

"The point, Doctor, is to have fun and I'm sure there is more going on than just sex. Right, Jack? You said dancing and dinner, too. I am sure the sexual bits happen elsewhere," says Rose with confidence.

Blushing, the Doctor and Jack both look at each other, then back at Rose. Turning back to Jack, the Doctor says, "So, how about Andromeda's instead."

"Oh, totally. Andromeda's  **is**  a much better choice," Jack agrees. They start to make plans for said future adventure as Rose looks back and forth between them. Finally she can't stand it any longer and she simply has to ask the question that's burning a hole in her head.

"You mean they have sex in the same rooms as the eating and the dancing…at the same time?"she says, her voice going up a couple of octaves near the end of the question.

Deciding Jack is the one that needs to answer that one, the Doctor heads off to the kitchen to start some tea for the reunion. Watching her husband escape, Rose turns back to Jack, eyebrow of doom raised.

Sighing, Jack crosses his arms and launches into his answer, part of his mind plotting revenge for later, "Yes, Rose. It's in the 51st Century. They have sex wherever they please. Now, of course, it would be rude right next to people eating, but the other side of the room's perfectly acceptable. The diners usually critique the performances. That isn't to say that everyone in the 51st Century just drops in the street and has a go, but they are much freer with the love. It's nothing to be embarrassed about." With a shrug he uncrossed his arms and waits for Rose's reply.

"Wow. I guess I'm not quite that, ummm, sexually expressive. I want it to be more private, for me, but I appreciate what you're saying. I'm sorry, but I hope you won't be disappointed if I say I don't think I'd be comfortable there," Rose says quietly.

"Nah! Don't worry about it, Rosie. I was just reminiscing about the last time I visited the place. Nothing to apologise for. Let's go get that cuppa your man is fortifying himself with, and then go pick up this magnificent creature you've been regaling me about."

* * *

The Doctor was still so flustered by the earlier conversation, that landing took three tries to get right. The first was the correct location and day, but the wrong year…by a few million. Stepping out of the TARDIS into a forest and seeing a herd of some large shaggy creatures lumbering through the trees was enough to send them scurrying back in to see what went wrong.

The next try was also nearly perfect, but several hours too early, as the AM and PM were reversed. It was lovely, but quite chilly, and the snow this time was natural.

On the third attempt, they knew they had it right because they were barely fully materialised before they could hear Donna's excited braying outside the doors, and her insistent pummeling. Looking at each other, they all grinned their relief at getting it right finally and at the charming enthusiasm that was busily trying to pound her way through the door.

"Donna!" the Doctor tries to be heard over the pounding.

"DONNA!" he yells this time loud enough to pin a mammoth's ears back.

"Whaaaa?" they hear sheepishly come through the door.

Opening it finally, "I can't open the door while it's being assaulted," the Doctor says smiling as he comes out hand in hand with Rose.

Throwing herself into their arms, Donna immediately starts in on a tirade of all the things she's done in the last month, the things she's packed, the lists she's made…. "Oh, just so many things!"

"I've missed ya so much. I was a little worried that you might not come, but Gramps was positive, and I'm just so, so excited. I was just tellin' Gramps thaaaattttt…t..t," Donna stutters to a halt as Jack steps out of the TARDIS, megawatt smile already in place. He had heard her start right in on them, and could see her red hair from behind, and what a behind, as he stood in the doorway of the TARDIS.

 _/Now, that's a woman to hold on to!/_ Jack thinks appraisingly. As he steps out ready to charm, he's instantly smitten at her adorable trailing off upon seeing him.  _/Yup, still got it!/_

"Jack Harkness, ma'am," he says taking her hand and bringing it near his lips, "at your service." Looking up into her blue eyes, he actually loses himself a moment. That is until she smacks him in the shoulder hard enough to make him sway.

"Oi! Were ya checkin' out my bum from the TARDIS? Whataya hangin' aroun' in there for? American, figures!"

Snatching her hand away, she doesn't turn away fully before giving him an appraising look as well, then she's off and verbally running. Rubbing his shoulder, Jack looks over at Rose and the Doctor, who are having trouble controlling their laughter. Walking toward the house to gather Donna's things, the group is joined by Wilf, who leads them inside for a spot of lunch before they run off.

Donna explains that this is her mother's bridge afternoon, so she won't be home for hours. Wilf has a pained expression on his face, but puts up a brave front.

"I'll keep the home front for ya, Donna. Your mother's goin' t' be a right terror, but I'll work on 'er."

"Oh Gramps, you're the best," Donna says giving him a hug.

They make polite conversation over sandwiches and tea. Then Donna takes them over to her luggage pile. At their looks she starts explaining all of her choices. Hats and shoes and clothes for warm days, cold days, and no days at all. Everything. Donna Noble will not be unprepared. As Jack and Donna start making trips back and forth to the TARDIS, Rose and the Doctor talk to Wilf.

"Has Donna explained what sort of traveling we'll be doing, Wilf?" Roses asks, unsure of how far to go with this kind, gentle man.

"Not really, an I haven't asked. I know it's some sort o' secret an its safe with me, it is. You jus' keep my Donna safe, and we'll call it even," he says with a bit of wetness in his eyes. He's going to miss his Donna, but he is so excited for her as well. She's going to have a grand time, and when she comes home, hopefully she can tell him all about her adventures.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" the Doctor exclaims. "I brought these new lenses for your telescope. This one here," and the Doctor is holding up a slightly pink one that glistens oddly, "will let you see the storms on Jupiter and the rings of Saturn like you could touch them. Don't share these around now, our secret," the Doctor says conspiratorially, tapping the side of his nose.

With a look of barely disguised glee, Wilf takes the precious package and stows the paper wrapped lenses in the pocket of his winter overcoat. He just can't wait to try them out tonight.

Turning, they see Jack and Donna are on their way back; all the luggage must be stowed in Donna's room aboard the TARDIS. Watching them out the window, all three see the first delicate flirtatious dance steps between Donna and Jack. He says something, she laughs, smacks him on the arm, they both laugh. It's simply adorable. Rose just knew they would get on well. The Doctor shakes his head at their behaviour, not really recognising it as flirting, yet. Wilf, on the other hand, sees possibilities in these two, and is overjoyed.

Upon entering the house, Wilf tells Donna all about the lenses, and soon they are chatting over another cup of tea. At nearly 4pm, it is already dark outside, and they hear a car door slam. Hearing Sylvia nattering away on her phone, the five people in the room freeze.

"Oh, hang on, Marge, I have to go back to my car, I completely forgot the milk I picked up at market, I know…."

At the slight reprieve, all five bodies scramble. Donna takes their cups to the sink, Rose gathers up anything left lying around, the Doctor locks the front door with his sonic, and Wilf hustles them all out the back door, making sure to grab his overcoat. Making it a ways from the house, they turn to face each other, knowing that this is goodbye.

Wilf shakes hands with Jack and the Doctor, then snaps a salute at them both. Jack automatically returns it; the Doctor just rolls his eyes. Next, Rose and Donna hug Wilf tightly. Donna hangs on an extra bit, trying to stuff as much love as she can into the moment.

"I'll be seein' ya, Gramps. Hope Mum goes easy on ya. I love you. I'll call or write or somethin', real soon, promise." Tearfully, Donna kisses her granddad on both cheeks before turning to catch up with the rest of her new family. Turning and waving, Wilf sees them all round the corner.

Trudging up the hill, he puts his hands in his pockets and feels the new lenses. Quickening his step, it doesn't take him but a few more moments to reach the top of the hill where the shed with his telescope is. Fiddling about with the new lenses, he finally gets the pink one mounted. It is only his old, cold hands that makes it an issue. The lens fits as if the telescope company had made it special for him.

Manoeuvring the telescope around till he can point it toward Jupiter, he leans forward to start aiming it properly. Focusing through the lens, he sees something flash by, too close to be anything celestial. Looking up from his telescope, he gapes seeing a blue box glide by. A blue police box! He hasn't seen one of those intact in years and certainly not in the sky!

Eyes wide and watching, wondering if maybe he's having a stroke, he sees the door open, and his own Donna stick her head out to start waving madly at him. Feeling his mouth fall open further, he raises his arm to wave back, just as that Doctor fellow and Rose poke their heads out too, waving like mad. Unable to contain himself now, Wilf starts jumping around excitedly. Yanking his hat off his head, he starts waving back at them, just as mad, hallooing loud enough to irritate neighbours and get the dogs to barking. He could not care less.

With one last bit of waving, Donna blows him a kiss and closes the door behind her. Wilf watches the blue box fade from sight, and he knows, oh he knows exactly what's happened. His Donna, is traveling with aliens. Aliens! He knew it! With another little dance, he finally settles down to get a glimpse of Jupiter. Chuckling to himself for nearly an hour, Wilf is finally brought out of his daze by the sound of Sylvia yelling up the hill at him. It doesn't matter how spare she drives him, nothing can dampen his spirits now. Donna is traveling with extraterrestrials!

"Where's Donna? She left a whole stack of dishes in the sink. You'd think without a job she could at least…" Sylvia starts haranguing Wilf in Donna's place.

"Travelin', our Donna's travelin', and is about to have the time of her life."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for following the story! I went ahead and posted the final two chapters since I'll be traveling the next couple of days and wouldn't be able to. Once I get settled I'll start posting the next story, Our Chosen Family. Thanks again and reviews are always welcome. :-)


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